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(CNN) -- U.S.-Russian ties may be at their frostiest since the height of the Cold War, but at least there's some warmth to the relationship between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. As Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama struggle to maintain even a modicum of cordiality, sparring over everything from Ukraine and Syria to fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden, their top diplomats have developed a rapport that observers say could be key to resolving an array of differences on some of the world's biggest geopolitical crises. At first glance, the two men would seem to have very little in common. Kerry, 70, is a career politician who served nearly three decades in the U.S. Senate and is known for his sense of humor and propensity for going off-script during talks. Lavrov, 64, is a career diplomat who has spent more than 40 years as a Russian envoy in posts around the world, and has been nicknamed "Minister No" for his tough, by-the-book approach to negotiations. But both men are from the same generation, and observers say they have developed a mutual respect for one another over a series of face-to-face meetings since Kerry took the job in February last year. "It seems both Kerry and Lavrov prefer the old school, they do it with grace," says one Moscow-based analyst who declined to be named in this report. "It looks like they've developed a pretty good rapport, and this is a stark difference from when Lavrov's partners were Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton." Lavrov and Rice, who was appointed Secretary of State by George W. Bush, locked horns numerous times during her tenure. One Washington Post reporter said Lavrov was known for pushing Rice's buttons, writing that the Russian had "perfected the art of irritating Rice" in meetings. Clinton and Lavrov were all smiles when the former first lady famously handed him a plastic red "reset" button in 2009. But the reset didn't last. After Clinton branded Russia's decision in 2012 to block a U.N. resolution on Syria a "travesty," Lavrov said Western criticism of his Russia's approach was "on the verge of hysteria." Lavrov and Kerry have managed to conjure up a détente of sorts over the past year. Lavrov's English is excellent, and both men speak French. Lavrov often joins Kerry to talk policy on his frequent garden strolls during face-to-face meetings, and last month the pair were photographed kicking a soccer ball around the grounds of the U.S. ambassador's house in London. Both are reportedly avid sports fans -- Kerry played varsity soccer at Yale University, while Lavrov is a die-hard fan of Moscow club FC Spartak. And in January, Kerry surprised Lavrov with a gift of two giant Idaho potatoes during a meeting in Paris. Kerry said that his friend had mentioned the spuds during a conversation over Christmas. Not to be outdone, the Russian gave State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki a pink "ushanka" hat to help her keep "warm and fancy" during the winter storms in the U.S. But it is their professionalism, not personal interests, that really makes the relationship work, according to Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. "Presidents Putin and Obama do not get along very well," Trenin says. "There's always a personal element about all those relationships, and normally it helps. [Kerry and Lavrov] may share an interest in some outside issues, but what really makes that relationship work is that the two men are really good professionals." They've also showed a willingness to keep picking up the phone, and managed to strike a deal on eliminating Syria's chemical weapons stockpile last September. And the pair shared a lighter moment at the end of their joint press conference, when Kerry was unable to hear the end of Lavrov's translated remarks. "It was okay John, don't worry," Lavrov assured him, to laughs from reporters. A smiling Kerry replied, "You want me to take your word for it? It's a little early for that." Ukraine is arguably an even tougher diplomatic challenge, pitching the U.S. and Russia against each other first in Kiev, then Crimea and now in the country's restive east, where pro-Russian protesters have seized government buildings in several cities in the past several weeks. Kerry has accused Russia of fomenting unrest to destabilize Ukraine's new, West-leaning government. In return, Lavrov has accused the West of meddling in Ukrainian affairs. While Kerry sometimes appears to go beyond the White House's script during crisis talks, Lavrov consistently offers a faithful translation of Putin's foreign policy, according to observers -- one that the West can sometimes find difficult to interpret. "'The president mainly speaks to the Russian people. His audience, his constituency is mainly the audience of the Russian federation. The foreign minister talks to his colleagues in other governments [and] couches his phrases in diplomatic speak," says Carnegie's Dmitri Trenin. "I see no significant daylight between what Vladimir Putin has said and what Sergei Lavrov says." Russia says it wants Ukraine to set up a federal system in which regions with ethnic Russian majorities would have more autonomy. The U.S. says it fears that unrest in the country's east could be used by Russia as a pretext for military intervention. As the U.S. and Russia join the EU and Ukraine for four-way talks aimed at defusing the Ukrainian crisis, experts hope Kerry and Lavrov's close working relationship will enable them to take the edge off what are expected to be contentious proceedings. "The situation now is very, very tense and very dangerous," says the Moscow-based analyst who declined to be named in this report. "But the fact that Lavrov and Kerry talk so often is a very positive sign. They can agree and disagree on certain issues, but this personal relationship helps a little bit." READ MORE: Militants, army face off in eastern Ukraine .

John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov to join EU, Ukraine for crisis talks in Geneva . Pro-Russian activists have seized government buildings in eastern Ukraine . Experts hope rapport between Kerry and Lavrov can help pave way for diplomatic solution . Russian, U.S. diplomats have developed mutual respect over numerous face-to-face talks .

Jerusalem (CNN) -- The number of anti-Semitic incidents around the world more than doubled from 2008 to 2009, according to a Tel Aviv University study. In 2009, 1,129 such incidents were recorded -- an increase of more than 100 percent from the 559 incidents noted in 2008, according to the study, released Sunday by the university's Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism. "In addition, many more hundreds of threats, insults, graffiti signs and slogans and demonstrations featuring virulently anti-Semitic content were registered, sometimes resulting in violence," the study said. Researchers documented only those incidents that showed "clear anti-Semitic content and intention," according to the study. However, the actual number might be higher, as some Jews may not have reported incidents, the study said. The sharp increase can, at least partially, be attributed to Israel's incursion into Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. The 22-day operation "triggered a wave of anti-Semitic manifestations that swept the world," the study said. "This trend subsided in February and March, but even during the months that followed this peak of anti-Semitic incidents, the baseline remained higher than before the war. "In fact, there has been a rising trend since the early 1990s, even in years when there was no significant Middle East trigger. Thus, the origins of the 2009 escalation in anti-Semitic expressions must lie deeper." Arie Zuckerman of the European Jewish Congress, a co-sponsor of the report, said: "In the past we have seen spikes in the level of anti-Semitism after violent events occurred in the Mideast, but it would recede. But we have never seen such a sustained, organized campaign being waged against Israel's legitimacy and its supporters around the world." The report said, "Memory of the Holocaust lies at the core of much anti-Israel and anti-Semitic agitation. It encapsulates several and even contradictory themes: the Holocaust did not happen; Zionists use the Holocaust to divert attention from Israeli actions against Palestinians; it's a pity that not all Jews were murdered in the Holocaust; Israeli behavior is comparable to that of the Nazis." For purposes of the study, researchers considered incidents involving physical violence, not verbal threats -- an assault on an individual, for instance, vandalism at Jewish institutions or arson. The largest increase in the number of violent anti-Semitic incidents and vandalism in 2009 occurred in the United Kingdom -- 374, compared with 112 in 2008, according to the study. The number of incidents in France rose from 50 to 195. There were repeated attacks on synagogues in France as well as a September incident in which a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Jewish ORT Bramson High School in Marseille. No one was injured, but a fence and vehicles were damaged. The United Kingdom and France are home to the largest Jewish communities in Europe, the report said. Both also have some of the largest Muslim communities in the European Union "and since 2000, in particular, have become centers for the activities of extremist anti-Israel groups and individuals that preach and disseminate anti-Semitic messages." Other incidents in Europe included a March 2009 attack on three Jews in Brussels, Belgium. The victims were beaten with a steel bar, while the perpetrators shouted "Allah Akbar" or "Allah is great" and "Yahud, Yahud" or "Jews, Jews." One victim was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the study. In Canada, anti-Semitic incidents rose from 13 in 2008 to 138 in 2009. The United States posted a small rise -- 116 from 98. The study points out that many countries where anti-Semitism has risen have large Muslim minorities. Traditionally, in the past anti-Jewish acts were the product of right-wing, neo-Nazi groups, but the study said most of the European incidents in which perpetrators were classified pointed to those of Arab or Muslim background. The study expressed great concern over what it called "the abuse of the Holocaust as a political tool ... the equation of Israelis/Zionists/Jewish supporters of Israel with Nazis became practically an axiom in demonstrations and in expressions voiced in the political and academic arena. The equation of the Star of David with the swastika symbolizes the ultimate evil --- extreme brutality and a disregard for human values -- and implies that those that allegedly behave like Nazis, the monster of the modern era, have no right to exist." Anti-Israel activists often insist they are not against Jews as individuals but are opposed to Israeli policies regarding the Palestinians. But the study insists that those distinctions are being blurred. "Incited by demonization of Israel and the idea that 'Jews must pay,' perpetrators of anti-Semitism make no distinction between Israel and Jews worldwide, who for them are part of a single evil entity." The study was released the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sirens sounded nationwide in Israel for two minutes Monday in observance. In remarks Sunday night at a state commemoration of the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took note of anti-Israeli sentiment. "Here we are today again, witnesses to the fire of the new-old hatred, the hatred of the Jews, that is expressed by organizations and regimes associated with radical Islam, headed by Iran and its proxies," Netanyahu said. Netanyahu called on nations to oppose such sentiment. "If we learned anything from the lessons of the Holocaust, it is that we must not remain silent and be deterred in the face of evil." CNN's Kevin Flower contributed to this report.

Israeli incursion into Gaza "triggered a wave of anti-Semitic manifestations," study says . Tel Aviv University study reports 1,129 such incidents in 2009, more than double previous year . Study: Britain, France "have become centers for the activities of extremist anti-Israel groups" Report expresses concern over what it calls "the abuse of the Holocaust as a political tool"

(CNN)Since 2008, FIFA's annual jamboree honoring the world's best player has been dominated by just two names. Ronaldo, Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi, Ronaldo, Ronaldo. Monday saw Portuguese and Real Madrid superstar Cristano Ronaldo crowned as winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or for a second year in a row. It came as scant surprise, given his club's phenomenal form in 2014 that saw the return of Champions League trophy -- and with it the coveted "decima," or tenth European triumph -- to the Bernabeu. "It has been an incredible year," he said at the awards ceremony. "I would like to continue the work that I have done so far. I want to try to improve, to become better as each day goes by. "I never thought that I would bring this trophy back home on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time." Top of their game . This seven-year duopoly reflects the importance of these two supreme athletes on the game, and allows us to see how lucky we are to be able to witness the long summers of two of the finest players to ever grace the sport. And part of the fascination lies in how different the two men are. Debating the relative merits of Ronaldo and his great rival Lionel Messi, talismans of Real and Barcelona, respectively, has been something of a parlor game in recent years. It's easy to compare and contrast, at least superficially. On the one hand, the improbable, mercurial talent of the shaggy haired, oddly stooped figure of Messi, confusing defenders as much as inspiring his teammates to a higher level. On the other: Ronaldo. A glistening, taut mass of muscle, neck like a tree trunk, powering forward relentlessly. He looks like he was created in a lab or a high tech factory; a Terminator, the ultimate footballer. Media matters . The two couldn't be much more different, in style and, if you are to believe the majority of the media, likability. Ronaldo has suffered the slings and arrows of a largely hostile press for much of his career, starting as a foal-limbed teen in Manchester, where he was often derided as a "show pony," for elaborate and unnecessary tricks, and -- a sin in the English game -- diving to win free kicks and penalties. The negativity followed him to Madrid and a then-record transfer fee. It is largely Real's cheerleading press, AS and Marca, that give him a free pass; the rest of the global sporting media grudgingly accept his gifts, but are quick to level criticism when they feel it due. He's often seen as a ball-hog, a selfish player who would rather shoot than pass to a teammate. That he has taken at least 10 shots at goal in nine matches doesn't exactly banish the perception. That his fellow "galactico" Gareth Bale would have the temerity to take a shot (and miss) in a recent Liga game rather than pass to CR7, as the virtuoso has styled himself, earned him a withering look from the Portuguese master, and the opprobrium of fans. Off the field, his reticence to engage the media -- a symptom, it is said, of his shyness -- has been interpreted as haughty and arrogant. Messi, on the other hand, who also eschews media coverage has typically been viewed as humble and self-effacing -- although recent tax and locker room scandals threaten to change that. Phenomenal 2014 . But the stats don't lie, and with the phenomenal return of 61 goals from 60 appearances (42 in 30 La Liga games alone) during 2014, it's hard not to give credit to this year's winner. He reached the 400-goal milestone for club and country (in 653 appearances) in January, . He is a footballing genius, and had he stood alone -- his yin unopposed by Messi's yang -- he would no doubt be already talked of as one of the all-time greats. As it stands, he's talking about that honor in aspirational terms, as a goal; he's spent most of his career battling comparisons. He's also developed in leaps and bounds since his 2008 World Player of the Year trophy, refined his unquestionable talent since he first grinned on that FIFA stage. He's far more mature; gone are the unnecessary stepovers and (almost) the petulance. To complement this, he long ago inherited an undimmable desire to win from his old mentor, Alex Ferguson, and he burns with passion and a need to score. That's only become more evident as he grows into the complete player he has developed into over the past couple of years. And along with his natural ability, he's long been an indefatigable, consummate professional who gives everything he has until the final whistle, and that's what has fueled his work- and goal-rate in 2014. He still takes a lot of shots, sure, but when "Ronaldo doesn't score," on the rare occasions that he walks away from a match without netting a goal is the headline, maybe he's right to do so. Certainly his Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, doesn't begrudge him the efforts. World Cup woes? Germany's irrepressible keeper Manuel Neuer -- who was a distant outlier for the Ballon d'Or this year -- may feel aggrieved that his superlative World Cup went unnoticed in voting. Indeed, Fabio Cannavaro won the award's predecessor, the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2006, off the back of his considerable influence captaining Italy to 2006 World Cup glory. But while he had a largely anonymous World Cup, it would be difficult to deny that, year round, it has been Cristiano's year. And, like the man or not, no one should begrudge him his time at the pinnacle.

Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo picks up his second consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Or . Comparisons with fellow great Lionel Messi have dogged Ronaldo's career . Portuguese midfielder has developed into a more refined, rounded player in recent years .

London (CNN) -- High-level talks to defuse the Ukraine crisis, due to be held by the U.S., Russia, the EU and the Kiev government next week, amount to a big personal test for John Kerry after a notably accident-prone first year as U.S. President Barack Obama's secretary of state. Kerry's State Department failed to see the Ukraine crisis coming and may have inadvertently helped to provoke it. They pushed too hard as the EU moved to cement closer ties with the former Soviet republic. Then, when Ukraine's elected, pro-Russia president was forcibly overthrown, the U.S. barely concealed its satisfaction. The conviction that Washington deliberately engineered the Kiev "coup" predictably enraged Russian President Vladimir Putin. He decided he would try a bit of direct intervention of his own. The result was last month's annexation of Crimea and the apparent, continuing Russian military threat to eastern Ukraine. Key international issues . There is a bit of a pattern emerging here. Take Egypt for example. In November last year, during a Middle East tour, Kerry gave his backing to the military junta that deposed the country's elected Muslim Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsy, and brutally repressed thousands of his supporters. Kerry declared that Egypt was following a "roadmap" back to democracy and that Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the general in charge, enjoyed his confidence. Since then, the repression has only gotten worse, and Egyptian democracy has become a bad joke. Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters were sentenced to death in risibly unfair court trials, amid a widening crackdown on political dissent and independent media. El-Sisi now plans to become president. Kerry has become more critical, but the die is cast. Very soon, Egypt will have a new dictator to replace former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, only younger and potentially more vicious. This dire prospect is not what the Arab Spring was about, and surely not what the Obama administration intended. Kerry's judgment has not proved any more impressive in his handling of several other key international issues. He threw his weight behind the Syrian peace talks process after receiving encouragement, ironically, from Putin, who is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main external backer. But it seems the wily Russian leader saw Kerry coming from way off. Moscow continued to aid, abet and arm the Assad regime while the U.S.-backed opposition groups squabbled and split and eventually achieved next to nothing in the Geneva talks. Kerry's plan to discuss a transitional government in Damascus never got to first base. Out of touch . Kerry invested a surprising amount of personal capital in reviving peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, making optimistic prognostications about his chances of success where so many others have failed. Perhaps it was a generational thing. Kerry, aged 70, has lived with the Israel-Palestine conflict all of his professional life. When he finally became secretary of state, maybe he thought: "At last, I have my chance to fix this." But he hasn't. In fact, following the Palestinian Authority's decision last week to seek U.N.-recognized statehood, and the Israeli government's reaction in breaking off most contacts, the situation is rapidly deteriorating again. Kerry's behavior in all these cases was delusional and out of touch with the realities on the ground, as the Washington Post's Jackson Diehl has argued, saying: "Egypt is under the thumb of an authoritarian general. The Syrian peace talks imploded soon after they began. The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are hanging by a thread. All along the way, Kerry -- thanks to a profound misreading of the realities on the ground -- was enabling the bad guys." Now Kerry faces his biggest challenge -- persuading, or forcing, another bad guy (namely Putin) to back off in Ukraine at a time when the Russian leader seems ever more convinced of American weakness. According to Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former Obama state department official speaking Thursday to the BBC, Putin formed that opinion, rightly or wrongly, when the U.S. ducked military action in Syria last year. Now he appears to believe Washington, and therefore NATO, will avoid a physical confrontation over Ukraine at all costs, and that this gives him a clear negotiating advantage. Ahead of next week's talks, Kerry could be misreading the situation again. He evidently did not believe Russia would be so audacious as to annex Crimea. He was wrong. Now, judging by recent statements, he is getting it wrong again. He seems to believe Putin is on the point of ordering similar action in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists have seized government buildings and appealed for Russian armed intervention. Testifying to Congress this week, Kerry blamed the protests on "special forces and agents" sent by Moscow in a move he said "could potentially be a contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea." While the U.S. favored a diplomatic solution, Washington was ready "to do what is necessary" to maintain international order. Putin must chortle at such empty-sounding rhetoric. He believes, with good reason, that the U.S. and its allies will not go to war over Ukraine. He probably also has no intention of sending in his tanks, simply because he does not need to. The direct and indirect pressure on Kiev to bow to Russian demands for "constitutional reform," including some form of federal system and enhanced regional autonomy in the east, is massive and beginning to tell. It is backed up by powerful Russian economic leverage, especially over gas supplies and agricultural exports. Ukraine is broke and divided. Crimea is lost. It has neither an elected government nor president. It is militarily vastly inferior. And it lacks allies it can rely upon, when the chips are down. Like it or not, it has little choice but to seek an accommodation with Russia. Unless Kerry significantly raises his game, the terms will be dictated by Putin. OPINION: Egypt's el-Sisi manufactures new dictatorship . OPINION: For many Egyptians, there is no alternative but el-Sisi .

John Kerry's state department failed to see the Ukraine crisis coming, writes Simon Tisdall . He evidently did not believe Russia would be so audacious as to annex Crimea, he says . Tisdall: Ukraine has little choice but to seek an accommodation with Russia . Unless Kerry raises his game, the terms will be dictated by Putin, writes Tisdall .

(CNN) -- A Florida company is suspending launch of its "Caylee Sunshine" doll following a public outcry that included members of slain toddler Caylee Anthony's family. The "Caylee Sunshine" doll would have cost $29.99 but sales of the doll have been suspended. Jaime Salcedo, president of Showbiz Promotions, told CNN that the Jacksonville-based company intended for the dolls to honor children who die young and raise money for charity. But on Tuesday the company announced on its Web site that it is suspending the promotion. The dolls were scheduled to go on sale at noon Tuesday for $29.99, according to the company's Web site. The dolls have blond hair, rather than Caylee's brown hair, and wear jeans and a T-shirt that says "Caylee Sunshine." According to the Web site, each doll plays the song "You are My Sunshine." "However, after reviewing the response to our media introduction of the Sunshine Caylee Doll and listening to the advice of the general public, we feel that it is best to suspend the launch," said a statement on the Web site -- called the "Caylee Anthony Tribute Site" -- signed by Salcedo. "While we still feel it is important to raise awareness and raise money to help stop this type of crime from being committed, we feel we can be more effective using traditional methods," the statement said. Watch Nancy Grace grill Salcedo » . Caylee was 2 when she was last seen in June. Her skeletal remains were found last month in woods about a half-mile from her grandparents' home. Her mother, Casey Anthony, 22, faces charges including first-degree murder in her death. "Holding a Caylee Sunshine Doll can help us remember that all the children taken from this world prematurely are dancing, playing and singing their sunshine song forever," the Web site says. Brad Conway, attorney for the girl's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday, "This is an example of another person trying to profit from the tragedy of Caylee's death. "He has never met my clients, spoken to my clients and has not gotten authority of any type to do this," Conway said. "And after I have a chance to research it, I will likely take whatever legal action I can." Salcedo appeared Monday night on "Nancy Grace" on CNN's sister network HLN to defend the doll. The criticism, he said, was "not something that we did not expect. We actually have been over it several times ... and for that exact purpose, we did not create the Caylee Sunshine Doll in the likeness of Caylee Anthony. We thought that that would be way off base in this," he said. "The fact that you gave the little doll blond hair, how does that somehow remove the sleaze from this whole thing?" Grace asked. Showbiz Promotions said on the site http://www.cayleedoll.com/ that 100 percent of its profits would be given to charity. Salcedo told Grace that "a portion of the sales are going to charity." He would not be more specific, however, saying he did not know how much would be donated because none have been sold. Salcedo also refused to name the charity that would receive the money. "We contacted a few of the biggest organizations in the world, and especially in the United States," he told Grace. "They don't want to partner up because it's -- it's a policy that they have to follow. They cannot get themselves involved with a case that they're handling." Pressed on the issue, he said he had contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but "their answer was real simple. They don't speak about Caylee Anthony on their Web site. It's not that it's good or bad. They can't do it. They don't raise funds using the name of any children or any situation that they're following. So it was difficult for us. That is the organization that we want to give to." A disclaimer on the site says, "The Inspirational Caylee Doll is being used to bring awareness to missing and exploited children around the world. Any similarities or likeness to Caylee Anthony are false ... CayleeDoll.com is not affiliated with Caylee Anthony, her relatives or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, nor do we make any claim thereof." The "comments" portion of the Web site mainly contains posts from people saying they are disappointed the doll was suspended. "Thank you for making this doll and bringing awareness to the situation because Caylee is not the only child that has fallen victim to this type of crime, and it's heartbreaking that people ignore it and just turn away," one post said. But another post said, "I want to thank you for not proceeding with the making of this doll. I understand your point and what you were trying to do. I just think that making a doll based on a child's death is too painful for the public." "This is just one more atrocity," said a posting on the Orlando Sentinel Web site. "I have no doubt there have been so many people other than myself who literally began to cry when they ran the video of Caylee singing that song just days before she was killed. Thank goodness the public spoke out loudly enough to stop this." Caylee Sunshine T-shirts ($12.99) and bracelets and stickers ($3 each) are still offered for sale on at www.cayleedoll.com. Showbiz Promotions' Internet sales are the subject of an investigation by the Florida attorney general's office, according to the office's Web site. Consumers allege they ordered and paid for merchandise from the company's Web sites, including www.vickdogchewtoy.com and www.wheresmyplea.com, but did not receive the items, the office said. The first Web site offers a dog chew toy in the likeness of Michael Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback who is imprisoned on charges related to dog fighting, for $7.77. The second Web site is no longer operational.

Dolls have blond hair; Caylee Anthony had brown hair . Company planned to charge $29.99 for dolls . President Jaime Salcedo said he hoped to raise awareness, money for charities . Promotion was criticized by public, members of slain tot's family .

Washington (CNN) -- Election night was terrible for the Democratic Party, and Hillary Clinton was not spared. Clinton visited 20 states and stumped for 26 candidates ahead of Election Day 2014. Her midterm record was an abysmal 11 wins, 14 losses and one runoff, according to CNN projections. But there is an argument - Clinton advisers will spin it to you - in the context of what appears to be an all-but-certain run in 2016, that her Midterm record is far less important than what she gained while campaigning for Democrats. Re-learning to stump . Going into the Midterms, Clinton's mostly paid speeches were corporate and dull. She addressed audiences that were full of executive types who did not alawys seem excited to see her; many of whom were attending conferences that had no connection to the former secretary of state. That changed during Clinton's time on the campaign trail. The former secretary of state stretched her long-dormant political legs and toyed with what will likely be her presidential message. She honed a new message based on women's rights and opposition to Wall Street and - perhaps most importantly - got some needed practice ahead of a possible presidential run. When the former secretary of state took the stage at September's Tom Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa - her first real political speech of the year - she appeared to reporters on the ground to be flat and out-of-practice. That afternoon, the crowd responded with far more excitement to Tom Harkin, their retiring senator, and Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband and the former president. But over time during the Midterms, Clinton became more comfortable on the stump. "Elections come down often to who's got more money, who's peddling more fear and who turns out," Clinton confidently told an excited audience in North Carolina in October. She didn't she away from hitting her Republican opponents and drawing some contrast between them and the person she was endorsing. Most noticeably, Clinton honed her focus on women. Nearly every event Clinton did was geared towards some combination of mothers and grandmothers. In Pennsylvania she spoke to a "Women for Wolf" event, while in Louisiana it was "Moms and Grams with Mary" who filled the event space. Clinton seemed to embrace the theme and recognize that fact that if she runs for president, it will be from a historic perch as possibly the nation's first woman president. "Don't let anyone dismiss what you're doing today as women's work," she told an audience in San Francisco. "Don't let anyone send you back to the sidelines." As Clinton has grown back into the role of retail politician, though, so have her Republican detractors. Groups like the Republican National Committee and America Rising learned how to prod Clinton and poked her with emails to reporters and tweets about her gaffes. They sometimes drove the media conversation and seized on mistakes she made. Shortly after the Senate officially turned red on Tuesday, Rand Paul's Facebook page uploaded a photo of Clinton and the six losing Senate candidates that she endorsed. "HillarysLosers," read the photos that went gangbusters online. The morning after the country, effectively, turned red, the Republican National Committee blasted an email to reporters: "Hillary's Policies Were On The Ballot." 'This is bigger than a single surrogate' Clinton's closest confidants also don't see Tuesday as a repudiation of Clinton. "This is bigger than a single surrogate," said a Clinton source with knowledge of her midterm schedule who requested anonymity to speak candidly. "No surrogate is that, sort of, silver bullet." The source added that going into the midterms there was a realization that Clinton "hasn't given a political speech, certainly on any regular basis, in six years." Given that, and despite her less than 50 percent batting average with successful candidates, people close to Clinton felt confidant that the midterms were time well spent for the former first lady. "I think her going back in for Grimes was a good example [of not shying away from tough races], going to Iowa twice, too" the source said. "There was no, 'Oh man, we ought to pull out of here because it is going to be a loss." The source argued that 2016 didn't come up a great deal during the conversations about where to go in 2014. Growing from the book tour . Hillary Clinton's book tour was defined by her gaffes in the interviews trying to sell it. Out of the gate, Clinton slipped up answering questions about her and her husband's wealth - pointing out the now mega-rich couple was "dead broke" when they left the White House - and it seemed like she was never fully able to recover. Longtime Clinton confidants were concerned about her book tour performance. "With the book tour, there were a lot of unforced errors. That was concerning," said one longtime Clinton adviser. "It was an open question whether she was going to fumble about her wealth." But watching Clinton on the stump, the source said, it seemed that Clinton kicked off the rust. Republicans see it differently. "She is going to have to meet a reality where talking about only war on women issues and raising the minimum wage is not sufficient to win a national election or elections in these states," said Tim Miller, executive director of America Rising, said after Tuesday night. "I think that is a reality that the whole Democratic Party is going to have to meet but Hillary Clinton was gung ho about that message, too." The midterms also weren't rhetorically flawless for Clinton. In Boston, the former first lady "shorthanded" a line that seemed to hint it wasn't "corporations and business that create jobs." Clinton went on to walk back the comment that was, for the most part, her only noticeable gaffe for two months on the stump. That is a departure from her book tour, a two month long affair riddled with slips of the tongue, and confidants were happy to see her gaffe on the populist side of the party. "Was it completely without these sort of perceived bumps? No," said the source with knowledge of Clinton's midterm schedule. "But, at the end of the day, was it viewed as time well spent? Yes."

Hillary Clinton helped Democrats campaign during the 2014 Midterm . Clinton found a voice campaigning for other Democrats and honed what will likely be her 2016 message . Clinton's Republican detractors also grew and learned how to effectively attack Clinton .

(CNN) -- Two high-ranking public officials were shot and killed in Mexico late Wednesday, making for four such attacks in the past two weeks. Three of the deadly assaults happened this week. In Oaxaca state, Mayor Nicolas Garcia Ambrosio and Council Member Angel Perez Garcia were assassinated Wednesday evening in the city of Santo Domingo de Morelos, the government-run Notimex news agency reported. A few hours later, gunmen shot and killed the deputy attorney general for the Mexican state of Chihuahua and one of her two bodyguards, the mayor of Ciudad Juarez said on Thursday. La Linea, the armed wing of the Juarez Cartel, claimed responsibility for killing prosecutor Sandra Ivonne Salas Garcia, said Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. Oaxaca is in southwestern Mexico and Chihuahua is in northern Mexico, on the border with Texas. Two other political assassinations occurred in recent days. Front-running Tamaulipas state gubernatorial candidate Rodolfo Torre Cantu and a state legislator were gunned down Monday morning near Ciudad Victoria. Tamaulipas, also a a border state, has seen some of the bloodiest violence in Mexico in recent months as the Zeta and Gulf cartels fight for supremacy. In Chihuahua, criminals shot and killed Guadalupe Mayor Jesus Manuel Lara Rodriguez on June 19 as his wife and child watched. He was a vocal opponent of the drug cartels. Some observers say there's little doubt the assassinations are linked to the run-up to elections Sunday for 12 state governorships and municipal and state posts. "Yes, at least some of this clearly is related to the elections," said Andrew Selee, director of the Woodrow Wilson Mexico Institute. "If you shoot somebody, it's because you don't want that person to arrive [in office]." Samuel Logan, an expert on Latin American gangs and founding editor of the Southern Pulse intelligence report, said criminals are choosing which candidates they cannot tolerate. "It's evidence of the reach that organized crime has in the political realm," Logan said. With so many offices at stake Sunday, "you have so many possibilities for peddling influence," said Logan, who recently wrote a book on the Mara Salvatrucha gang of Central America and is working on a book about the Zetas, which has emerged as Mexico's most ruthless drug cartel. "You have to settle the scores one way or another," he said. "If you don't work for us, we're going to kill you." John Mill Ackerman, an author and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Institute of Legal Research, said he sees two possible scenarios. "What the cartels need is government protection," Ackerman said. "They are ready to knock off anybody who refuses to reach an agreement with them or who agrees with the other group." Ackerman said he has no way of knowing what happened in Tamaulipas. Selee said he believes the fighting may have taken a toll on the cartels. "There are several drug-trafficking organizations that are on the ropes and they are striking back," Selee said. "But without knowing the facts of these killings, it's hard to know." Analysts and politicians say each case must be viewed independently. "I don't know if you can connect all the dots to each other," Selee said. "They are different criminal groups [who have committed the assassinations]," said Reyes, the Juarez mayor. "We can't say that they have reached an agreement in doing this." Reyes knows better than most the dangers of serving as a public official in Mexico. In March, authorities discovered a decapitated pig's head wrapped in a blanket. In the macabre package, they found a death threat against Reyes. The next Juarez mayor, who will be elected Sunday, will take office October 9. It's a date that can't come quickly enough, Reyes said with a nervous-sounding laugh. Asked how he's dealing with the ever-present danger, he said, "With much caution." The mayor said he is "taking all necessary precautions" and has offered protection to all the candidates in the city. Chihuahua state and Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, have emerged as the major battleground among cartels seeking access to lucrative drug-running routes into the United States. The Mexican federal government said in April that 22,700 people have died in the country since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006. Calderon's offensive was a major departure from the way Mexico dealt with drug cartels. "There's no more wink wink, nod nod. Sell your drugs but make sure there's no blood on the streets," Logan said. Nowhere in Mexico are the streets bloodier than in Ciudad Juarez, where there have been more than 4,300 slayings in less than four years. Juarez is the largest city in Chihuahua state, where the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels have been killing each other at a record pace. The city of Guadalupe, where the mayor was killed earlier this month, is in Chihuahua. The deputy attorney general killed Wednesday night also worked in Chihuahua. In February, gunmen ambushed the mayor of the Mexican municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo in southern Chihuahua state. Killed were Mayor Ramon Mendivil Sotelo and one of his bodyguards. Even the police in Chihuahua don't feel safe. Juarez Police Chief Robert Orduna resigned in February 2009 after receiving death threats. For an increasing number of officials in recent days, those threats have become reality. "We are seeing for the first time a major uptick in the past few months against elected officials and candidates," Selee said. "It's related to the intensifying conflicts among the cartels." Analysts agree that the violence will continue. And it doesn't much matter who is doing it, some say. "I don't really care who claims responsibility for it," Logan said. "The bottom line is that this guy was killed."

There have been four deadly attacks against public officials in two weeks . Three of the attacks were this week . Analysts see link to elections Sunday in 12 states . Chihuahua and Tamaulipas are bloodiest states .

(CNN) -- More than 100 people gathered at a church in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday for the funeral of a 17-year-old girl who hanged herself after she was allegedly gang-raped and then bullied when a picture of the incident went viral. Mourners at St. Mark's Anglican Church remembered Rehtaeh Parsons for her caring nature and love of animals, CNN affiliate CTV reported. Her cousin, Angela, said the eulogy included "memorable stories of our beloved Rehtaeh." Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter attended the funeral. "I came to the service today first and foremost as a father trying to imagine what kind of incredible, unfathomable grief could be visited upon a family, and to try and be supportive in this very, very difficult time," he said. Rehtaeh was taken off life support last weekend, three days after she hanged herself. Her family says she developed suicidal thoughts after she was sexually assaulted two years ago, and after a picture of the incident was shared by phone and online. The high school student became despondent, especially after a police investigation ended without criminal charges, her mother wrote on a Facebook tribute page. "Rehtaeh is gone today because of the four boys that thought that raping a 15-year-old girl was OK and to distribute a photo to ruin her spirit and reputation would be fun," Leah Parsons wrote. "All the bullying and messaging and harassment that never let up are also to blame. Lastly, the justice system failed her. Those are the people that took the life of my beautiful girl." As news of her death spread, so did outrage that police did not file any sexual assault or child pornography charges -- even though authorities confirmed a photograph allegedly showing the teen having sex with one of the boys was circulated to friends' mobile phones and computers. A joint investigation by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local authorities found "insufficient evidence to proceed with charges," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Scott MacRae said earlier this week. But on Friday, eastern Canadian police announced they are reopening the investigation. The HRM Partners in Policing -- which includes Halifax Regional Police and a locally based division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police -- said in a statement it was reviewing the case "in light of new and credible information" that has recently been brought forward to police. A demand for answers . By late Saturday, more than 200,000 people signed a petition demanding an independent investigation on how police handled the case. The lead petitioner described the decision to reopen the case as "a great step," but said "if we want real justice -- we need to find out why the RCMP did not lay charges in the first place." RCMP spokesman Cpl. Scott MacRae said the new information that led authorities to reopen their investigation "did not come from an online source." "We can talk to a witness, we can verify the person, we can substantiate some of the information that has come forth, and that is a good thing," MacRae said. MacRae said investigators hope reopening the case will encourage those with information to come forward, "but we have to advise the public that we can't accept reports through social media." A disturbing trend . The Nova Scotia case is one of several involving reports of a teenage girl being raped and then humiliated after photos of the alleged attacks went viral. In California, three teenage boys are facing charges of sexual battery in connection with the alleged rape of 15-year-old Audrie Pott, who later committed suicide. Santa Clara County Sheriff's detectives said Audrie had too much to drink at a party and was passed out when the boys allegedly assaulted her. The boys are accused of taking photos of the attack and sharing them at school, as well as texting the images and posting them online. And in Ohio, two high school football players were convicted last month of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl. Graphic text messages, social media posts and cell phone pictures and videos emerged in court. The trial divided the football-crazed town of Steubenville. The case caught the attention of bloggers and Anonymous, a loosely organized hacking activist group. A warning from Anonymous . Anonymous has also expressed outrage over the Canada case and said it might release the names of teens linked to the alleged rape in an effort to force authorities to pursue prosecution. The group told Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry that "justice is in your hands and supports the legal machinery to move forward with charges." "Better act fast," Anonymous warned Canadian law enforcement in a statement. "We do not approve of vigilante justice as the media claims. That would mean we approve of violent actions against these rapists at the hands of an unruly mob," the group said. "What we want is justice. And that's your job. So do it." Jason Barnes, partner of the teen's mother, said the family does not "support the publishing of the names" in the case, which has shocked Canada. "We are not looking for some kind of vigilante justice. We just want justice," Barnes said. Anonymous claimed it took only a few hours to identify the boys who assaulted her. "This wasn't some high-tech operation that involved extracting private messages from someone's Facebook account. Dozens of e-mails were sent to us by kids and adults alike, most of whom had personal relationships with the rapists. Many recalled confessions made by these boys blatantly in public where they detailed the rape of an inebriated 15-year-old girl," the group said. "These sad little boys had no fear whatsoever about admitting publicly their crimes and even spreading photographic evidence of it. Why were they unafraid? They believed no one was ever going to do anything to stop them and they were right," the group said. Every officer that signed off on the "no evidence" conclusion, Anonymous said, "should be guarding the entrance to a petting zoo for the remainder of their careers." When evidence goes viral . Rape victim's family: We want justice, not vigilante justice . CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

More than 100 people attend the girl's funeral in Nova Scotia . 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons died Sunday, three days after trying to hang herself . Her family says she was raped and and a photo was circulated, but no charges were filed . Police say they're reopening the probe after getting "new and credible information"

(CNN) -- Antwan "Big Boi" Patton considers himself a "truther." The 37-year-old rapper, producer and one-half of the legendary hip hop group OutKast said his grandmother once told him his position as a public figure was to bring valuable information to his audience and community. "There's facts right there in your face," Big Boi said. "They've got a cure for cancer, they've got a cure for AIDS, cure for everything, but they make so much money off the medicine you'll never see it. The people have to understand that." CNN Soundwaves: Big Boi on Big Boi . Talking about life . According to Big Boi the average person is living an illusion and accepting false information. Hence the name of his latest solo album (he counts it as his third, calling "Speakerboxxx" his actual first album), "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors," which he has called an overall "search for truth." Released via Def Jam, "VLADR" is a follow-up to Big Boi's 2010 release, "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty," and comes from a title his grandmother had for her (planned?) autobiography in which she would air the family's dirty laundry. Big Boi's latest musical effort is his way of exposing himself and the world around him. "I'm talking about life," he said of the 14-track disc (17 if you nabbed the deluxe version). "Some people don't get that because they're so numb to what the mainstream media is pumping into their head with these reality shows and a certain type of song that's played 1,000 times on the radio every day and I refuse to do that." So what did he do? If you were to ask the music critics, Big Boi just released his most complete work to date and the closest fans will get (for now) to an OutKast album in terms of it's boldness in sound and creative risks. But before Big Boi could ever move forward carving out his legacy, he had to shake an old stigma from his past. 'The player and the poet' Shortly after the success of their first hit single, "Player's Ball" in 1993, Big Boi and his partner-in-rhyme Andre 3000 were dubbed "the player and the poet," with Patton playing the role of the former. Through marketing and promotion, Big Boi was cast as the bad boy, while Andre was the thoughtful, creative one. Big Boi maintains that he has never liked the moniker. "Everybody thought I was just a DBoy. I'm just selling dope and getting laid all day," he said. "I think when they put that title on it people kind of took it and ran with it." OutKast went on to sell more than 20 million records, earning multiple Grammys, including album of the year in 2004, and the group has since been hailed as creative geniuses and one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time. Search for truth . While "VLADR" has a lot of George Clinton-style funk and features indie rockers Phantogram and Little Dragon, it also carries the political punch of Public Enemy, with songs like "Shoes for Running," which some might say borders on conspiracy theory. One of the track's opening lines is: "I wish they could send me to the moon and back with a cure for cancer and save the lives of my great grandmomma and great granddaddy now that's the answer to the question/ but they make money off the medicine leaving us all stuck in elections with no progressions just recessions." And so back to that whole "truther" thing, which Big Boi said is just his taking the time to find information and share it with anyone who will listen. He is also quick to strike down the conspiracy theorist label. "I mean its drone strikes, United States killing kids overseas every day, they're not telling you about that," he said. "Why not? Are our kids' lives more valuable than the ones' overseas? A child is a child. These are facts. There's no conspiracy in this." Best friends . Another theory Big Boi finds himself dealing with is the status of OutKast and his relationship with Andre 3000. There was the whole Gillette "diss" and the apology Andre 3000 made to Big Boi via T.I.'s "I'm Sorry." Or could it just be the fact that since, really, 2000's "Stankonia," the duo has more or less not made an album together? If you listen carefully, Big Boi addresses the matter on "VLADR," but he doesn't hold back if asked about it, either. "People don't know or they don't catch all of the interviews and then (there's) all the sensational headlines, but you've got to really understand that me and Dre have a relationship that's bigger than music," he said. "We're best friends. Music just came along because it's what we're put here to do and what God brought us together to do. But that's my brother; you know what I'm saying? There's no beef, no nothing." In fact, not one song made it to the final cut of "VLADR" without a listen from Andre 3000, Big Boi said. Verbal exercises . Fans and the Internet were abuzz when word got out Big Boi and Dre would be "reuniting" for Frank Ocean's "Pink Matter," and T.I.'s I'm Sorry," both tracks that already featured Andre 3000. In a text message, Big Boi responded to the idea of these songs being OutKast reunions. "They aren't," he wrote. "I'm just verbally exercising." To the folks calling for a new OutKast album, Big's answer is, well, honest. "If we did records like what I'm doing right now, if I go so deep y'all will never get an OutKast album," he said. "We ain't excited about doing an OutKast album because people ain't going to understand it."

Rapper Big Boi says his latest album is a "search for truth" Says there is no beef between him and fellow Outkast member Andre 3000 . Fans have been awaiting a reunion from the pair .

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- When Erika Clowes was pregnant, she figured breast-feeding would be a breeze. After all, she'd read all the books and taken all the classes. After an easy birth, she brought home her baby, Charlie, and waited for paradise to begin. The bagged breast milk filling Erika Clowes' freezer is evidence of how nursing dominates a new mom's life. But instead, it was a nightmare. Charlie wouldn't latch onto her breast. She was in horrible pain. She had to wake up every two hours around the clock to pump milk and then feed it to Charlie from a bottle. He had colic and cried nearly all the time. She'd been so devoted to the idea of breast-feeding, but now felt like quitting. "I felt betrayed and completely deceived, because nobody told me it would be this hard," she says. "It was the darkest time of my life." Clowes almost became a statistic. According to new numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 74 percent of mothers try breast-feeding, but after three months only 30 percent still exclusively nurse their babies. After six months, the number dwindled to 11 percent. Take our interactive quiz to see how much you know about breastfeeding » . The study didn't track the reasons the women quit nursing, but experts including Los Angeles, California, lactation consultant Corky Harvey said many women have a hard time nursing and don't know where to turn for help. She says one common reason for quitting is that women mistakenly think they don't have enough milk and decide to give the baby formula. Other women quit nursing when they go back to work, and others stop because family members encourage them to give bottles instead of breast milk. What kept Clowes from giving up was the "Booby Brigade." In the middle of the sleep deprivation, hormone rages, and feelings of failure, Clowes figured she had to do something. So she started the Booby Brigade, a group of new mothers near her home in Silver Lake, California, who met online and in person to give each other breast-feeding advice and support. With help from them, and occasionally from a lactation consultant, she was able to nurse Charlie consistently in about four months. From Clowes, her lactation consultant, and another mother who started a support group, here are five breast-feeding mistakes new moms make, and how to fix them: . Mistake 1: Moms go it alone . Solution: Get out of the house -- fast . Clowes was reluctant to join -- let alone start -- a support group. "I hate that kind of thing," she says. But she did so out of desperation, and found the technical advice (how to latch on, how to deal with nipple pain) and emotional support indispensable. Anthropologist Katherine Dettwyler, who studies breast-feeding, isn't surprised that women often fail at breast-feeding when they're left alone at home to raise a new baby. "Humans are very social creatures, and most of the world lives in extended families," says Dettwyler, an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware. "You have mothers and grandmothers around who knew everything about breast-feeding. You're not isolated at home for eight or 10 hours a day." In addition to the Booby Brigade, Clowes joined a support group at The Pump Station, a local store that sells nursing pumps. La Leche League also has support groups. If you don't find a group, start your own, Clowes suggests. "I walked around my neighborhood and would just hand out a card with my name and phone number on it to other moms," Clowes says. Mistake 2: Moms forget about their successful breast-feeding friends . Solution: Invite one over . While lactation consultants can be wonderful, they can also be expensive -- a visit from one in the Los Angeles area costs $200-$300 an hour, according to lactation consultant Harvey. Amanda Corbin, a mom who started a support group called "Got Milk?" in Tampa, Florida, says sometimes help can be free. She suggests inviting over a friend who's breast-fed successfully, and show her your attempts at nursing. It might be embarrassing to reveal all to your friend, Corbin says, but "we lay down our dignity during labor, so go ahead and lay down your dignity when it comes to the health of your baby." Mistake 3: Moms assume they don't have enough milk . Solution: Rethink your baby's nursing behavior . Many times, new moms think if baby won't stop nursing, he must not be getting enough milk, so they give him formula. "Sometimes babies just nurse and nurse and nurse -- that's just what babies do," says Harvey. "It doesn't mean you don't have enough milk. It just means you should keep nursing." Mistake 4: Moms get intimidated breast-feeding in public . Solution: Have snappy comebacks at the ready . Clowes says occasionally mothers in her group reported getting nasty comments when they've breast-fed in public. She suggests having a few retorts at the ready. On her Web site, crankylittleman.com, she has these two suggestions: "If you're uncomfortable seeing my baby eat, you are welcome to cover yourself with this baby blanket. I'll let you know when we're done," and "You think this is something? You oughtta see where he came out!" Mistake 5: Moms panic when milk doesn't gush out . Solution: Realize that at the very beginning, you're not going to see a lot of milk . Through her work at the Booby Brigade, Clowes found some moms were expecting torrents of milk from the very beginning, and when they didn't get it, they'd give baby a bottle. They didn't understand that right after birth, moms produce small amounts of colostrum, a concentrated, nutrient rich liquid that's measured in teaspoons, not ounces, and is the perfect food for newborns. E-mail to a friend . Elizabeth Cohen is a correspondent with CNN Medical News. Producer Stephanie Smith and Associate Producer Sabriya Rice contributed to this report.

CDC study finds most women quit breast-feeding within six months . Common obstacles: worry about adequate milk production, inconvenience . Seeking help, from friends, lactation consultants is key, experts say .

(CNN) -- Any footballer who holds a passport for a particular country should be allowed to represent them on the football field. That is Juventus president Andrea Agnelli's take on the hot topic that is dominating the build-up to the final round of European qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. Debate has raged in England after the country's national team manager Roy Hodgson revealed he had been looking at the latest starlet off the Manchester United production line -- Adnan Januzaj. The Belgian-born 18-year-old has starred for the defending English Premier League champions this season and could qualify to play for England through residency rules if he stays in the country until he is 23. Blog: 'Your country needs YOU! But which country?' Arsenal's Jack Wilshere then raced headlong into the debate by telling a press conference while on England duty: "The only people who should play for England are English people." Those remarks only served to transcend the dispute across the sporting spectrum as England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, South African by birth but with an English mother, challenged Wilshere's view. The owner of 99 Test caps for England pointed to Tour de France winner Chris Froome and double Olympic champion Mo Farah as examples of sportsmen who competed under the United Kingdom banner but who were born in another country. "It's very difficult -- we live in a global world, in a truly globalized environment," Agnelli told CNN World Sport. "In a global world when you're entitled to have a passport of a country and you have legislation for that, you should be entitled to play for the national team of that country. "My wife is English and I've got two kids -- they were born in Italy -- how I should go back home and explain to my wife that they couldn't wear the English national team (jersey)? "When you think about nationality, are they English? Their mother is English but they were born in Italy. I have other friends who have different nationalities (of parents) and were born in a third country. 2014 World Cup: Is Belgium football's coming force? "Maybe they were born in a different country just because of a momentary placement for a job but would they represent that nationality or would they feel something different?" Agnelli has stabilized Italian giants Juventus since he assumed the presidency in May 2010, with the club still dealing from the fall out of the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal that saw them relegated to the second tier in Italy. In the three years he's been in charge Agnelli has overseen Juve's return as Italy's most successful club, winning two Serie A titles in a row, and their move to a new stadium, which has helped strengthen the club financially. Juve are this season gunning for a third straight Serie A crown, matching their achievement of 80 years ago, but he still thinks Italy's top league has a long way to go to match the powerhouse trio of domestic competitions in England, Spain and Germany. "Serie A is not where it was in the 1980s and 1990s when it was the fabulous destination for every football player," he explained. "I think we have to catch up a lot of ground we have lost in the recent past. "At the moment we are fourth and we should be more considered about the countries behind, like France & Portugal, from a UEFA ranking point of view rather than catching up with who is in front of us. "Italy needs to go through a structural reform of the way we run football before we can actually aspire again to clinch third place, then move up the ladder to become number one." Premier League dream for Bigirimana after 'miracle journey' This week the finest players in Europe are preparing to represent their countries as the final round of World Cup qualifiers determine who makes it to Brazil in 2014. But looming large in the background are the issues that surround the tournament that is still nine years away -- the proposed 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Football's world governing body FIFA last week set up a task force to investigate the possibility of moving the 2022 competition from Qatar's summer to winter, to avoid the searing heat that could affect both players and fans alike. No final verdict will be offered before the latest installment in Brazil has been completed but any shift in date would have huge ramifications for Europe's leagues and clubs. But Agnelli is confident a solution that suits everyone can be settled upon. "I think the fact there is a lot of chat is good because everyone within the football family wants to make sure the right decision is made," he added. "I think there has been a clear position from the FIFA executive committee which is a decision will be taken following the 2014 World Cup Brazil 2014 -- that should leave plenty of time to make the right decision. "Moving a World Cup from June or July when it is normally played to a different month is a huge involvement. We tend to speak a lot about the players who actually take part in the competition but that is the minority, you have to think about what the rest of the football family will do. "We have to understand what the calendar will look like, how we will make the players rest, is it going to be a one year change of calendar. "What is important is that the clubs' point of view will be listened to and I think European Club Association will make sure that point of view will be well represented within the right bodies." Agnelli also acknowledged the wider issues involved with shunting the date of one of the most watched sporting events on the planet, including the agreements that would have to be struck with television broadcasters. "You have to understand the TV broadcasters will have their own say -- every player involved will have a point of view," he said. "You clearly sold to the American broadcasters a product that should be taking place in June or July and you are going to put it throughout the regular season of NFL, NBA and NHL -- will that have the same value? "There are a lot of players which need to come to an agreement, I'm quite sure with the good will of everybody a good solution will be found in the interests of football itself."

Juve president says players who have a passport should be allowed to play for that country . Debate raging after England manager Roy Hodgson said Adnan Januzaj is on his radar . Man Utd winger was born in Belgium but could qualify for England under FIFA rules . Andrea Agnelli confident solution can be found if FIFA decide to move 2022 Qatar World Cup .

(CNN) -- Austria's Matthias Mayer scored an upset victory in the blue riband men's downhill while hosts Russia claimed its first gold of the Winter Games in Sochi Sunday in a packed program of competition. The 23-year-old Mayer recovered from a slow start on the treacherous piste at Rosa Khutor to claim gold with a time of two minutes 06.23 seconds. Italian Christof Innerhofer took silver, just six-hundredths of a second behind, with Norway's Kjetil Jansrud in the bronze medal position. BLOG: Sunday's action live . Pre-race favorites Bode Miller of the United States and world downhill champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, finished eighth and fourth respectively. The 36-year-old Miller, in his final Olympics, had been quickest in two training runs, but mistakes on the middle section of the course, cost him dear. "I wanted to ski it as hard as I could and not really back off, but it requires a lot of tactics today which I didn't apply," he said. "I feel disappointed. I skied hard and well, and that's the most important thing. It just didn't go all right." By contrast, Mayer, who chose the perfect moment to win his first major downhill competition, was in dreamland. "This is unbelievable. I thought maybe in a few years I could dream of this sort of achievement. It was really cool and my family will be excited," was his assessment. Mayer's father Helmut won a silver medal in the super-G discipline at Calgary in 1988 and his son had a pre-race premonition he could go one better. "I woke up this morning and I knew that I could win this race. I was smiling the whole day, all throughout the inspection. It was my day today," he added. The alpine skiing hotbed of Austria has not produced an Olympic downhill champion since Fritz Stroebl in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City and Mayer is following in the footsteps of legends such as Franz Klammer, the 1976 gold medalist in Innsbruck. Innerhofer looked like spoiling the Austrian party as he bettered Mayer's time in the upper sections, but he narrowly missed out in one of the tightest finishes in Olympic downhill history. "It has been a big dream for me to win a medal at the Olympic Games, so I can't really believe it," admitted a stunned Innerhofer. "I couldn't be happier." Svindal, so dominant on the World Cup circuit, was distraught to finish outside of a podium places by just 0.19 seconds. "It is pretty much the worst place to be. I've been there before and probably will be again," the 31-year-old said. Svindal took silver in the downhill in Vancouver 2010 behind Switzerland's Didier Defago, who was only 14th in his title defense in Sochi. The classic downhill opened proceedings on the second day of finals, while Russia's figure skaters rounded off the day by clinching the team competition -- watched by President Vladimir Putin. Veteran Yevgeny Plushenko and 15-year-old Julia Lipnitskaia won their respective free skate competitions at the Iceberg Skating Palace to give Russia an unassailable lead ahead of the ice dance free dance later in the evening. "I'm 31 years and this means everything to me. It's so much history," said Plushenko, who was the 2006 Olympic champion and has won two silver medals in a glittering career. The new sport of slopestyle snowboarding has proved a big hit with spectators and television viewers and earlier Jamie Anderson completed a double for the United States. Her teammate Sage Kutsenburg won the men's event Saturday and she followed it up with a superb display in the women's final. Her massive score of 95.25 proved a class apart with Finland's Enni Rukajarvi in second place on 92.50 with Britain's Jenny Jones taking the bronze. The third gold medal of the day went to Dario Cologna, who won the Skiathlon 15km classic/15km freestyle event in Nordic Skiing. Cologna suffered an ankle injury at the start of the season and did not race until last month, but it did not prevent the Swiss, who won gold in the 2010 Winter Games, doubling up. "It's great -- a dream come true. The second gold after Vancouver. It's very special," he said. The first medal for Russia came as Olga Graf took bronze in the women's 3,000m speed skating. Ireen Wust maintained the early Dutch dominance in speed skating at Sochi by taking gold from silver medalist Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic. In the 7.5km sprint biathlon, defending champion Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia took gold ahead of Russian hope Olga Vilukhina. Russian-born Kuzmina claimed gold in the sprint and silver in the 10km pursuit at Vancouver in 2010. Germany's Felix Loch dominated the men's luge from start to finish to take gold with a combined time of three minutes 27.526 seconds over the four runs. Russian Albert Demchenko was left frustrated in his bid to become the oldest-ever Olympic champion at the age of 42, but took a fine silver. Double Olympic champion Armin Zoeggler of Italy took bronze in a high-quality competition. Poland's Kamil Stoch took the ski jumping title on the normal hill Sunday with jumps of 105.5m and 103.5m for a total of 278 points. Slovenia's Peter Prevc was second, nearly 13 points adrift with Norway's Anders Bardal taking the final podium spot. Switzerland's Simon Ammann, 32, double Olympic champion in 2006 and 2010, finished back in 17th.

Austria's Matthias Mayer wins men's downhill . Pre-race favorite Bode Miller can only manage eighth place . Russia wins first gold in the team figure skating competition . Jamie Anderson gives United States double in slopestyle .

(CNN) -- His declaration grabbed the ear: I am the son of a mass murderer whose dark deeds and enigmatic identity spawned silver screen thrillers. I am the son of the Zodiac Killer. Gary Stewart of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, may be the latest person to claim lineage with the infamous psycho murderer who inspired the movies "Zodiac" and "Dirty Harry." But he's not the first to say he is descended from a man who police suspect killed five people in northern California in the late 1960s, then taunted the public with creepy letters to the media. Zodiac has never been caught. And he has, in all, 37 people's lives on his conscience, he has said in his cryptic claims of responsibility. He also may have spawned a child. Others before Stewart have purported to be his offspring. There's the self-proclaimed "Stepson of the Zodiac Killer," Dennis Kaufman, who has appeared on TV news and a crime show touting his deceased stepfather Jack Tarrance as the crazed killer. He said his stepfather's handwriting was similar to the killer's. There's Deborah Perez, who said she wrote some of the claims of responsibility for her father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, when she was 7 years old. Her half-sister called her claims lies. There's Steve Hodel, who says his father was a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle -- the paper to which the Zodiac Killer sent his mocking notes. His claim too was discounted. Whether Stewart's contention will hold true is yet to be seen. Louisiana man claims his biological father was Zodiac Killer . Stewart's biological father . Stewart is accusing his deceased biological father, Earl Van Best Jr. The vice president of a cleaning company has compiled his account into a book published by HarperCollins. "The Most Dangerous Animal of All" reveals Zodiac's true identity for the first time, the publisher says -- a claim Perez, Kaufman and others will likely dispute. Stewart sleuthed for a decade through government files and news articles and hunted down relatives to dig up evidence, HarperCollins said. The result is a narrative story about a "boy with disturbing fixations," who can't process being jilted by prospective mates and lets out his rage in a spate of murders. Kaufman has described going to similar lengths with his obsession that his father could be the real killer. He even hired a handwriting analyst to compare his father's handwriting to letters the proclaimed mass murderer mailed to the press. But since Stewart's account is new, investigators may take a gander at it to see if it helps them solve the case that is still open. The author -- who was abandoned as an infant by his biological parents, then later adopted -- promises to answer questions in the case that have been open for nearly 50 years. Police in Northern California have said they weren't aware of the book or its claims. "It's an open and active case, so we don't comment," San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza told CNN. "But (it's) certainly something our homicide investigators will take a look at." Gruesome murders . The Zodiac Killer stalked his victims with knives and guns in 1968 and 1969 and once even dressed as an executioner. He craved publicity, taunting police in letter after letter to newspapers. The letters were often written in a cipher he seemed to have invented himself. "If you read these letters, he was getting a tremendous thrill out of terrifying the public," said Susan Morton, a forensic scientist who has studied the letters. The Zodiac's last known victim, San Francisco cab driver Paul Stine, was shot to death in his cab in 1969. The killer cut out a piece of Stine's blood-stained shirt and mailed it to a newspaper, along with a letter. Police believe the killings stopped, but the letters kept coming until 1974. In the 1970s, a man named Arthur Allen was a prime suspect in the case. He was never charged and denied being the Zodiac Killer until his death in 1992. Stirring the pot . As exciting as Stewart's account sounds, it may be just a new drop in the bucket. More than 2,500 other people have been considered suspects in the case. Investigators said that for decades the phones rang regularly with people wanting to pass on new clues. "We have talked to many people over the years," Steve Blower of the Napa County Sheriff's Office said. Only two people are believed to have survived Zodiac's attacks. One was Bryan Hartnell, who was stabbed eight times in an attack in September 1969. His girlfriend was stabbed between 10 and 20 times. She died, but not before giving a description of her attacker. A sketch of the suspect emerged, and HarperCollins says Stewart's father was a match for it. "If you look at Gary's photo next to the sketch of the Zodiac (Killer) next to his father's mug shot, you can see that there is very clearly more than just a passing resemblance," HarperCollins publicist Tina Andreadis told the magazine. "They look alike." Hartnell told CNN on Wednesday that he took a look at a head shot of Van Best that the publisher is circulating. That portrait is part of the new book. "The things that I saw that were not inconsistent were the high forehead, the shock of dark hair, and the fact that he wears glasses," Hartnell said. Hartnell has his reservations about Stewart's new account, but says he's interested in seeing the book. "I somewhat follow the news, but there has been no time in the last 40-plus years when someone was not (stirring) the pot," Hartnell wrote to CNN in an e-mail. Who is the Zodiac Killer? Fast facts - Serial killers . A killer in the family . CNN's Dan Simon and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

Survivor says photo is "not inconsistent" with what he saw of killer . Zodiac Killer, who has never been caught, claimed to have killed 37 people . Each prospective child of Zodiac points to a different man as the killer . Gary Stewart is the latest and has compiled his account into a new book .

(CNN) -- Whether a monochromatic yellow or featuring every color in the Crayola box, these cites are guaranteed to brighten your day. The word "pretty" isn't often associated with the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro. But gazing across the hills toward the notorious Santa Maria favela, you might be pleasantly surprised by the burst of colors, the result of a recent social art project launched by Dutch design duo Haas&Hahn. Pockets of rainbow-bright residences and streets pop up in cities across the globe; some are contrived, like Haas&Hahn's favela project and the commissioning of a blue-painted town in southern Spain by Sony Pictures to promote the Smurfs 3D movie (no, really). Others, like the eclectic homes and murals of Valparaíso, Chile, are more organic, inspired by the creative spirits of the residents that inhabit them. From a monochromatic Indian city painted pink for a visiting English prince to the candy-colored waterfront of Miami's South Beach, these landscapes bring a new level of vibrancy to austere deserts, mountains, slums and already sparkling aqua waters. Travel + Leisure: World's most beautiful canal cities . Jaipur, India . Now this is a royal welcome: Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh had the whole city daubed in pink for the arrival of Edward, the Prince of Wales, during a diplomatic visit in 1853. The Rajasthani capital retains its signature rose-tinted hue across broad boulevards and historic buildings like the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds). Chefchaouen, Morocco . A four-hour drive from the bustling city of Fez brings you to this village high in the Rif Mountains, known for its labyrinthine medina bathed entirely in shades of blue. The area was once a refuge for Spanish Jews who, fleeing the Inquisition in the 1500s, found a harmonious haven in Chefchaouen. Though most have now migrated to Israel, the warren of turquoise alleys remains as their legacy. Travel + Leisure: World's strangest towns . Izamal, Mexico . Mexico's tourism secretary designated Izamal, in the Yucatan region, a pueblo magico (magical city), and it's easy to see why. The colonial buildings are awash in a vivid yellow that gives the monochromatic town a sunny look whatever the weather. Take a horse-and-buggy ride around the cobblestone streets past marigold churches, government buildings and the city's centerpiece: the historic 16th-century Basilica of San Antonio de Padua. Bo-Kaap, Cape Town . No, that's not a rainbow at the foot of Signal Hill. The pops of color making their way up the slopes are typical of Cape Town's historic Muslim quarter, where the mosques and homes make up a splashy kaleidoscope of aquamarine, fuchsia and lime. Its Cape Malay community is descended from slaves brought over by the Dutch from Southeast Asia in the 1600s, and residents began painting their homes to celebrate the end of apartheid. Travel + Leisure: World's strangest bridges . Balat, Istanbul . Once Istanbul's old Jewish quarter, Balat has attracted a more diverse range of residents over time. Yet the architecture takes you back to a lost era; it's easy to spend a few hours wandering, preferably with camera in hand, to capture the dilapidated yellow and pink buildings adorned by billowing red or green curtains, all sparkling against the cerulean sky. Juzcar, Spain . Among the iconic White Towns of Andalusia, Juzcar looks so comically out of place that you'd be forgiven for wondering if it's out of a cartoon -- in fact, you'd be correct. Until recently, it, too, was a whitewashed village; in 2011, Hollywood executives inquired whether the residents would paint their homes blue for a promotional blitz surrounding a Smurfs movie. Afterward, Sony offered to paint the town back, but aware of the skyrocketing tourist numbers that resulted from the gimmick, the 220 citizens voted to keep it blue. South Beach, Miami . Neon lights, frothy facades, quirky patterned lifeguard stands, art deco buildings -- driving along Ocean Drive in Miami is a retro trip back to an era when Technicolor was just bursting onto screens. Flamingo pinks and tropical greens flank the white sand on one side, with azure waters on the other. Rio de Janeiro . In 2010, Dutch artists Haas&Hahn schemed to turn a favela in Rio de Janeiro into a giant canvas for their third project in that city's slums (favelapainting.com). Enlisting the help of local youths, they converted the homes of Favela Santa Maria into a rainbow of staggering proportions, composed of rays in myriad shades radiating across the facades. Willemstad, Curacao . Legend has it that in the 1800s, when the Dutch ruled Curacao, the then-governor attributed the migraines that afflicted him to the powerful Caribbean sun reflecting off the colony's stark walls. The result? An official decree that commanded residents to paint the structures anything but white. Today, this World Heritage site owes its distinctive pastel shades to one man's maladies. Vernazza, Italy . These postcard-perfect pastel pink, lemon yellow and sea green facades were hit by devastating floods in 2011. While the damage to Vernazza and the four other scenic waterfront villages that make up Cinque Terre was severe, efforts are under way to restore, rebuild -- and repaint. See more colorful cities on Travel + Leisure. Planning a getaway? Don't miss Travel + Leisure's guide to the World's Best Hotels . Copyright 2012 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.

An Indian town was painted pink in 1853 to celebrate a visiting prince, and it kept the color . A South African community celebrated the end of apartheid with color . In a Smurfs movie promotional stunt, a Spanish town was painted blue, and it stayed blue .

(CNN) -- A confidential draft U.N. report accuses Iran of exporting arms to the Syrian government in violation of a ban on weapons sales, a Western diplomat said Wednesday on condition of anonymity. The draft report describes three seizures of Iranian weapons shipments, including two bound for Syria, within the past year, said the diplomat, who was not authorized to release details to the media. The report was drafted by a panel of experts and submitted to the U.N. Security Council's committee that monitors sanctions against Iran, the official told CNN. There was no immediate reaction to the report on Iranian government-run Press TV. The accusation came as al-Assad, in a rare interview, told Russia 24 that weapons bound for rebels were entering his country from neighboring Lebanon and Turkey. "You can't simply close the borders and stop the smuggling, but you can reduce the flow," he said. In recent days, violence has spilled over into Lebanon and Turkey, where thousands of Syrians have fled. At least one person was killed and an undetermined number were wounded Thursday in renewed clashes in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli between factions supporting and opposing the uprising in Syria, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. Al-Assad put the blame instead on the so-called Arab Spring, during which popular revolutions have toppled the governments of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. "If we take into consideration the developments in Syria, the events in Libya and other countries, for the leaders of these countries, it's becoming clear that this is not 'spring' but chaos," al-Assad said. The Arab Spring movements inspired the uprising in Syria, which began in March 2011 with protests calling for political reforms. It devolved into a revolt with an armed opposition amid a crackdown by al-Assad's forces. The United Nations estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the 14 months of conflict, while opposition groups put the death toll at more than 11,000. CNN cannot independently verify reports of deaths and violence because the Syrian government has severely restricted access by international media. At least 20 people were killed Thursday in attacks across the country, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition network that collects casualty reports and organizes anti-government protests. The deaths include 10 in the Damascus suburbs of Daraya and Douma, three in Idlib, three in Daraa, two in Homs, one in Raqqa, and one in Swaida, the LCC said. Syria blames violence in the country on "armed terrorist groups." Some groups "continued perpetrating massacres and targeting law enforcement members and citizens, and vandalizing public and private properties" on Thursday, state-run news agency SANA reported. Thirteen "army, law enforcement and civilian martyrs" were buried Thursday, SANA said. It added that 72 people from Aleppo, Idlib and Damascus "who were involved in the latest events but didn't commit crimes, gave themselves up with their weapons to the authorities Wednesday." Opposition groups, including members of the rebel army, say al-Assad's government has been trying to hamper their efforts by accusing them falsely of links to terrorism. A video posted on YouTube purported to show thousands of anti-government protesters outside Aleppo University, where blue-helmeted men could be seen. The U.N. observes wear blue helmets. CNN could not confirm the authenticity of the video. While rebel forces, called the Free Syrian Army, say their ranks are filled by defectors from Syria security forces, al-Assad described them as criminals. "It's not an army, first of all, and it's not free because they get their arms from different foreign countries," he said in the interview. "That's why they are not free at all -- they are a bunch of criminals who have been violating the law for years and have been sentenced in various criminal cases. There are religious extremist elements among them, like those from al Qaeda." Al-Assad dismissed the international pressure brought to bear for him to end the violence and step down, vowing that Syria would not bow on any issue. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have targeted Syria with a number of economic sanctions targeting al-Assad and his government. Al-Assad acknowledged the sanctions have hurt Syria's economy. "The world doesn't consist just of Europe and the United States, and we find alternatives which allow us to overcome these difficulties," he said. "We can support small and mid-sized business, the basic element of our economy is agriculture, and it's hard to affect it with sanctions." He also called a boycott of recent parliamentary elections by the opposition a failure. "It seems to some people that if we conducted the reforms earlier, the situation would have been better now. It's not right for one reason -- terrorists spit on reforms. They are not fighting for reforms, they are fighting to bring terror," he said. Meanwhile, the U.S. government distanced itself from a Washington Post report that said more and better weapons are making their way into the hand of Syrian rebels. The newspaper, citing unidentified officials and opposition activists, reported that the arms are being paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated, in part, by the United States. "The United States has made a decision to provide nonlethal support to civilian members of the opposition," Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman told reporters Wednesday. "... But with regard to any assertions with regard to lethal, we are not involved in that." The United States has expressed reservations about arming rebels, citing division among the opposition. Meanwhile, those divisions deepened Thursday with the Syrian National Council, widely perceived by Western countries as a primary coalition for the opposition, coming under fire by a leading opposition activist group. The LCC called the national council a "failure," and vowed to withdraw from the group. The council has been under fire for failing to unify the opposition groups and bring in international support. CNN's Amir Ahmed, Nada Husseini and Joe Vaccarello contributed to this report.

At least 20 people are killed Thursday, an opposition group says . 13 "martyrs" are buried Thursday, Syria said . A draft report says two shipments of weapons bound for Syria have been seized . U.S. government denies report it is helping supply arms to rebels .

Tokyo (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Japan on Sunday for the last stop of his Asian tour, a trip that has largely focused on the provocations coming out of North Korea. Kerry met Sunday with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss regional tensions, climate change and cybersecurity. "We cannot in any way allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons," Kishida said. Also, "we agreed North Korea must stop its provocative speech and and behavior." North Korea threatened in early March to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the U.S. and South Korea and has made a series of other threats since then.. Kerry said the parties need to work privately at "the highest levels of government" in order to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation. "Hopefully North Korea will hear our words and recognize that for the future of its people and for the future of stability in the region ... there is a clear course of action they're invited to take, and they will find in us ready partners," he said. North Korea issued a scathing warning to Japan on Friday, saying Tokyo should "stop recklessly working for staging a comeback on Korea, depending on its American master," state media reported. Japan's Transport Ministry has issued a notice requiring its airplanes to report to the U.S. military if they fly near the U.S. military's Kadena base in Okinawa prefecture, the Kyodo News Agency said. The notice, made at the request of the U.S. military in Japan, is believed to be part of precautions taken against possible North Korean missile launches. Opinion: Why I fled North Korea . As Kerry visited the Japanese capital, North Korea responded to South Korea's call last week for open talks. "If they have true intent for dialogue, they should drop the attitude of confrontation to begin with, not getting inveigled in wordplay," North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA reported. "The possibility of dialogue entirely depends on their attitude." South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, speaking with Kerry on Friday, urged North Korea to open talks. "We urge North Korea to cease its reckless behavior and to stop issuing threats," he said. Future talks on climate, cybersecurity . Kerry said Japan and the United States agreed to make climate change a high priority as countries around the world seek consensus on a new international agreement to take effect in 2020. "The foreign minister and I agreed to raise the initiative above the level that it is today ... because of the urgency of this issue," Kerry said. "We have agreed to engage in a new bilateral dialogue based on three pillars." Those areas of concern and focus are agreeing to a climate change pact for the next decade, lowering carbon emissions to reduce their impact on the climate, and planning new growth so that it has minimal effect on the climate, Kerry said. iReporter: Foreigners in South Korea unconcerned with threats from the north . In late November nearly 200 delegations gathered in Qatar to advance discussions on a new treaty while moving to extend the Kyoto Protocol, which most countries ratified in 1997. But not every nation signed on to the pact's second commitment period, which ends in 2020. Kerry also said high-level talks on cybersecurity will take place May 9-10. Visit to Beijing . In his first trip to Asia as secretary of state, Kerry visited South Korean and Chinese leaders amid growing tension over North Korea. Washington wants Beijing to "stop the money trail into North Korea" and give Pyongyang a strong message that China wants the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, two U.S. administration officials said. On Saturday, Kerry and Chinese leaders said their two nations would work together to press North Korea to tone down its provocations. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi. Kerry told reporters in Beijing that the United States and China are calling on North Korea to refrain from any provocative steps -- including any missile launches. Yang said China's position is "consistent and clear-cut." "China is firmly committed to upholding peace and stability and advancing the denuclearization process on the peninsula," Yang said. He also said Beijing will work with its international partners to help restart the stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program and hold it accountable to its international agreements. China, U.S. to work together to calm down North Korea . Support for Seoul . Kerry landed in Beijing after leaving Seoul, South Korea, where he pledged unbending U.S. military support against any attack from the North. During his visit to Seoul on Friday, Kerry said the United States would talk to North Korea, but only if the country gets serious about negotiating the end of its nuclear weapons program. "North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power," Kerry said in the South Korean capital. His trip to Seoul came a day after a Pentagon intelligence assessment surfaced suggesting North Korea may have developed the ability to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at its foes. The Defense Intelligence Agency assessment is the clearest acknowledgment yet by the United States about potential advances in North Korea's nuclear program. U.S. officials think North Korea could test-launch a mobile ballistic missile at any time in what would be seen by the international community as a highly provocative move. But a senior administration official said there's no indication that any such missiles are armed with nuclear material. Pentagon spokesman George Little said that "it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced" in the DIA study. The DIA has been wrong in the past, producing an assessment in 2002 that formed the basis for arguments that Iraq had nuclear weapons -- a view later found to be incorrect. 5 things we still don't know about North Korea's nukes . CNN's Barbara Starr, K.J. Kwon, Kyung Lah, Judy Kwon, Laura Smith-Spark, Chris Lawrence, Elise Labott and Adam Levine contributed to this report.

NEW: Kerry says Japan, U.S. ready to work with North Korea to resolve tensions . Kerry's visit to Japan is the last stop in his Asia tour . North Korea tells Tokyo to "stop recklessly working for staging a comeback on Korea" Kerry: China and the U.S. call on Pyongyang to refrain from provocative steps .

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Rebels said Saturday that they were gaining traction in a series of offensives in several parts of Libya controlled by ruler Moammar Gadhafi -- claims that the Libyan government swiftly disputed. Heavy gunfire was heard in al-Zawiya, located about 33 miles west of Tripoli, where rebels had arrived. Rebels entered the city center and managed to cut off the road to Tripoli, they said. Talha Jwaili, a rebel fighter, told CNN that rebels control al-Zawiya. Ten rebels died in the fighting, four from Zintan and six from al-Zawiya, he said. More than 20 people were reported injured. A spokesman in the media office of the Military Council of the Western Mountain Region said that rebels control about 85% of the city and that clashes there are ongoing. CNN could not independently confirm Saturday who was in control of al-Zawiya, nor other details of the rebels' accounts. A government spokesman downplayed the fighting, telling reporters in Tripoli that the town is "absolutely under our control." Al-Zawiya is strategically important because the coastal road through the city is the main supply line from the Tunisian border to areas held by Gadhafi. Government spokesman Musa Ibrahim said fewer than 100 rebels moved in on al-Zawiya from the southern side of the city, but were stopped. Another group of fewer than 50 rebels was waiting inside the city, but "took action too early," he said, adding that the group is still on the run. "They are mad. ... This is not an advance. This is what you call a skirmish, what you call a suicide mission," Ibrahim said, noting that al-Zawiya is the country's third-largest city. While forces loyal to the Libyan leader tried to defend the capital from the west, rebels announced that they had cut off an important military supply route to the south. Sixty miles to Tripoli's south, rebels said they captured the town of Garyan and pushed the Gadhafi forces to the south, cutting them off from the road to Tripoli. The soldiers left behind heavy artillery and ammunition, rebel field commander Adel al-Zintani told CNN. "We captured many anti-aircraft artillery vehicles, two full fuel tankers and 106 anti-tank piercing artillery and shells," he said. Seven people were injured in the clashes, he said. "The rebels have 95% control of Garyan and have surrounded a Gadhafi brigade inside a military camp inside Garyan," said the spokesman in the media office of the Military Council of the Western Mountain Region. Finally, in the opposition-held port of Misrata, missile attacks by Gadhafi forces ended after rebels captured the nearby town of Tawargha, National Transitional Council spokesman Guma El-Gamaty told CNN. That city was being used by Gadhafi forces to launch missiles indiscriminately into Misrata, he said. Rebels also took a crucial bridge that links Tawargha to Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown and loyal stronghold, he said. However, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said government fighters had pushed the rebels away from Tawargha and back to Misrata. Ibrahim also downplayed the rebel claims in other towns. "Small groups of armed gangs, 50 here, 50 there, some attacked south of al-Zawiya, some attacked north of Garyan, and Tawargha, but they have very weak influence on the ground," government spokesman Musa Ibrahim told reporters. "The people's armed forces are dealing with them, they do not represent a real threat. Tripoli is safe." He later noted that Gadhafi's forces are "very strong" and have the support of "thousands upon thousands" of armed volunteers. "You have to remember we are very powerful," Ibrahim said. "The tens of thousands and tens of thousands of volunteers are armed right now. It doesn't matter whether NATO advances or not, whether rebels advance or not, because we will always be able to fight, in a year's time, in two years, in three years." Five months into the Libyan war, the rebels have won international support in their effort to oust Gadhafi. They have been aided by NATO airstrikes that began in March after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution that ordered civilians be protected. This week, the government accused NATO of killing 85 civilians, including 33 children, in airstrikes Monday near the embattled city of Zlitan. NATO has said there is no evidence that the strikes killed civilians, though journalists, including CNN reporters, taken by Gadhafi's government to the site of the strikes, reported seeing bodies of women and children. It was impossible for CNN to confirm the extent of the casualties and if they were all civilian. Kaim on Friday criticized the United Nations for what he claimed was an organizational silence over claims that NATO has violated the mandate of the Security Council by killing civilians and conducting a naval blockade. Ibrahim renewed the government's accusations Saturday, saying NATO is aiding the rebels, whom he described as "armed gangs." The comments follow a statement a day earlier by a spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon, who said the U.N. secretary-general "is deeply concerned by reports of the unacceptably large number of civilian casualties as a result of the conflict in Libya." Ban urged "all Libyan parties" to engage with his special envoy, Abdel-Elah Al-Khatib, "and respond concretely and positively to the ideas presented to them, in order to end the bloodshed in the country," the spokesperson said. Ibrahim repeated Saturday his own calls for an end to the conflict, telling NATO: "Stop this aggression and let's talk peace." CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, Jomana Karadsheh, Yasmin Amer and Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.

NEW: Government spokesman: Al-Zawiya is "absolutely under our control" Rebels say they are in control of the coastal city of al-Zawiya . Rebels say they captured the town of Garyan to the south . A government spokesman calls the rebel efforts "weak"

(CNN) -- What happened? Tacloban, a city of more than 200,000 people on the eastern coast of the island of Leyte, suffered a catastrophic blow from Super Typhoon Haiyan, whose force brought a wall of water roaring off the Gulf of Leyte. The storm surge leveled entire neighborhoods of wooden houses and flung ships ashore. CNN's Paula Hancocks, speaking from Tacloban airport, said terminal buildings had been destroyed not by the typhoon itself but by the storm surge that went on to the city several miles away. There were a number of people killed in this area; locals said that while they were prepared for high winds and heavy rain, they were not expecting this sheer volume of water. Typhoon Haiyan: 30 members of one family missing after storm . Hancocks said one man told her: "If we'd have been warned about a tsunami we'd have known not to be in the coastal area. But the fact they warned of a 'storm surge' ... we frankly didn't know what that was. We didn't know how deadly that was." Aid worker Ned Olney, from Save the Children, said his charity had a team on the ground before the typhoon hit. "What they report back that was around Tacloban was really a kill zone. They had a well-prepared emergency response team experienced at handling typhoons -- a harrowing experience -- and only just escaped. "They were in a second-story building very solidly built of cement: The windows were blown out and the roof was ripped off. All their computers and response equipment was destroyed and they barely survived. What they said was it was remarkable that anyone survived, it was so severe." Were warnings given and what could have been done? Before the storm hit on Friday, President Benigno S. Aquino III warned that the nation faced a calamity. However, professional storm chaser James Reynolds, founder of Earth Uncut Productions, who only just escaped from Tacloban before it struck, said it was clear locals had no idea of what was coming. "The Philippines isn't used to getting storm surges -- it's not usually such of an issue so this would have caught people by surprise. They don't associate typhoons with the rising water levels like that." How to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors . Asked whether he thought the message had got out that the storm could be the biggest ever to make landfall, he said, "No, no, it can't have done." It's difficult to know where people could have fled to. Mass evacuations are a huge logistical headache anyway, but in a country like the Philippines, comprised of several islands, the relatively poor infrastructure would make it even more difficult. Elderly people told CNN's Ivan Watson they preferred to stay put and wait it out rather than risk evacuating. No one simply anticipated such a massive storm surge. Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team leader, reiterated this point. He said one of his colleagues in the Philippines had told him that Typhoon Haiyan was similar to Typhoon Bopha which struck the southern Philippines last year, killing more than 1,000 people, but 100 times worse. "It's the intensity of Bopha but spread over a vast area, whereas Bopha was relatively geographically constrained," he said. "That gives you an idea of what the people of the Philippines are facing at the moment." Is Typhoon Haiyan being blamed on climate change? The Philippines government says it believes the super typhoon is connected to climate change and is urging governments to find a deal at climate talks taking place in Warsaw, Poland. "We cannot sit and stay helpless staring at this international climate stalemate. It is now time to take action. We need an emergency climate pathway," said Yeb Sano, head of the government's delegation to the UN climate talks, in The Guardian. Saleemul Huq, senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, said it was possible that weather events that once occurred every 20 or even 50 years would now strike every two years. "Events like Haiyan could be the new norm," he told CNN. "The challenge for both rich and poor countries is how to adapt to them. "All countries will need to adapt to extreme weather conditions. Even in London, for instance, a violent storm last month blew a part of my roof. The rich may have more to lose, but they may be less well prepared for it. "The Philippines is relatively well prepared for storms -- but there are limits as to what good the precautions will do. In this case they were simply overwhelmed, and even the storm shelters collapsed." How do other countries fare in extreme weather events? In 1999, 10,000 people were killed when a ferocious cyclone hit eastern India. Last month, the same region, the state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, was once again in the crosshairs as the region's most powerful storm this century struck. But there was a much better outcome. One million Odishans were evacuated to shelters ahead of time. Only 21 people lost their lives. Thousands of others were saved. Extreme climate events may be worsening, but technology has helped to save lives. We're now better than ever predicting the scale of storms and cyclones and we're better than ever at getting the message out. Bangladesh is another country vulnerable to climate change, but it is one that has done most to adapt to future dangers, according to climate experts. Saleemul Huq, senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, said both countries had learned the lessons from the 2004 East Asia tsunami that left more than 200,000 people dead, according to the U.S. Geographical Survey. The main lesson learned from 2004, Huq said, is that officials need to be clear with warnings. "You can't expect complicated warnings to be understood: saying a storm has severity of level 3 or 4 means nothing to most people. Now it's much better: you need to say simply when people must evacuate."

Locals prepared for high winds and heavy rain, not expecting sheer volume of water . Airport terminal buildings in Tacloban destroyed not by typhoon but by storm surge . Hard to know where people could have fled to in region with poor infrastructure . Climate change experts say challenge is how to adapt to extreme weather events .

(CNN) -- Before middle-aged men started singing "Viva Viagra" in TV ads, before former Sen. Bob Dole appeared in its commercials in the '90s, before the blue pill with a funny name entered the public lexicon, impotence was hush-hush. Viagra entered the market 10 years ago, bringing once taboo subjects like erectile dysfunction out in the open. Now there's no getting away from it. In-boxes are clogged daily with spam mail promising cheap and instant manliness delivered fast and in bulk. Couples exchange amorous, come-hither looks followed by a lengthy recitation of side effects on TV ads. The pill helped more than 25 million men get their groove back and blasted the topic of erectile dysfunction into the open. "It's like the nuclear explosion," said Dr. Irwin Goldstein, director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, California. "It created sexual medicine. It allowed the taboo to be broken." Since the diamond-shaped blue pill debuted 10 years ago, it has become embedded in the public psyche, late-night television jokes and urologists' offices. "It is one of the revolutionary steps in sexual health," said Dr. Ira Sharlip, spokesman for the American Urological Association. "It ranks with the changes in cultural attitudes about sexuality that were started by [Sigmund] Freud, continued by [William] Masters and [Virginia] Johnson, the two researchers in the '60s, and the work that [Alfred] Kinsey did in the '40s. "These were the huge steps in the development of our understanding of human sexuality and cultural attitudes of sex." Men seldom talked about their bedroom troubles before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra as the first oral medication for erectile dysfunction in 1998. "We lamented the fact that the men had so much shame about erectile dysfunction, how rarely anyone came for medical attention," said Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, an associate clinical professor of urology at Harvard Medical School. Penis injections and vacuum pumps were available, but these treatments weren't appealing. Men with medical conditions such as diabetes, prostate cancer, hyper cholesterol, endocrinological and cardiovascular problems weren't able to enjoy sex, Goldstein said. "People who couldn't enjoy intimacy before have been given a second life...." he said. "We have had a better life because of it." Viagra increases blood flow to the penis, enabling a man to have an erection. The drug does not induce desire and works when the man is sexually aroused, according to Pfizer, the makers of Viagra. Urologists heard from patients who had tried the pill that Viagra made them feel as if they were 20-year-olds again. Anti-impotence drugs Levitra and Cialis have come along since. "Along with the birth control pill in the '60s, this pill really changed people, society and medicine," Goldstein said. "It changed the patient-physician relationship. You can walk in and ask about sexual functions. It was a major taboo at some point." Dr. Gerald Melchiode, a Texas psychiatrist, agreed that the pill has helped men open up about their sexual health, but finds the commercials a bit much. "I've never run across men singing about their impotency," he said. Since Viagra's appearance on the market, the dialogue about sexual dysfunctions has helped doctors identify other health problems in their patients, doctors say. "You always hear someone drops dead,"said Dr. Chris Steidle, a urologist who wrote the book "Sex and the Heart." "It's not sudden death if you couldn't get an erection. It's a symptom of a heart condition. You wouldn't ignore a stroke, but you would ignore erectile dysfunction -- it's a significant symptom." The man's penis is like "the tip of the iceberg" or "the canary in the mines," which serve as an indicator of overall health, Morgentaler said. "There's now good evidence that shows that men with ED who have no other symptoms of anything are at increased risk for heart attacks and strokes," he said. Thousands of studies have been conducted on Viagra. "The pill that thrills" is also being studied to see whether it gives athletes an edge in competition. It's been studied to see whether it helps women with their sexual health. Despite the deluge of attention, Viagra doesn't work for about 25 percent to 35 percent of men with erectile dysfunction. For others, it has revitalized and strained marriages. Experts say Viagra gave a window into the psyche of men and women. Some complain that sex should be spontaneous and that popping a pill ruins the romance. Eating food decreases the potency of Viagra, and some say the pill forces them to go on a schedule. Another complaint: Having to use Viagra makes a spouse or partner feel undesirable. "Sometimes their spouse personalizes it," said Melchiode. "Why does he have to take this pill? Aren't I attractive enough? Aren't I sexy enough for him? That's not unusual for the partner." Even when Viagra is effective, some men realize that it's not the magic bullet that solves their problems with intimacy, doctors said. Only about half refill their prescription. "One has to think beyond just giving a pill to cure sexual problems," Melchiode said. "A typical example is a couple where there's been problems over the years and they can't deal with the problems on a verbal level, so they start withdrawing from one another. They build up a resentment and anger, they have trouble being close to one another and having sex with each other. Just giving them a pill isn't going to touch on all the problems of the resentment and anger." Sex, it turns out, is part of a bigger web of relationship issues. Morgentaler, author of "The Viagra Myth," said: "It's unrealistic that there's a pill that fixes all of these things."

Viagra helped 25 million men with erectile dysfunction and bring awareness . Blue pill considered a huge step in understanding human sexuality, cultural attitudes . ED indicates other health issues and that blood vessels aren't working well . Viagra isn't a cure-all, some sex problems are indicative of relationship problems .

(CNN) -- It's a village not a town. So say residents of Bathurst, a magnet for the creative and curious located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, approximately 12 kilometers from Port Alfred. Residents are proud of the eccentricity of their town. Or village. "You've got to have certain things to be a town, like a bank and full-time doctor, and we don't have any of that," says one longtime resident who gives her name only as Mrs. Lens. What Bathurst does have is a history dating to the early 1820s, a long and entertaining main street and a pub with delicious food that's also a motel. The best time to visit is Sunday morning, for the weekly farmers market. But there are other attractions -- starting with these. Don't forget to tell us about your own underrated cities in the comment section. 1. World's largest pineapple . There's no missing the town's 17-meter-tall pineapple. It's not as random as it seems. The Big Pineapple represents the region's pineapple industry -- the settlers who arrived in the 1820s struggled to grow crops until the first pineapple was planted in 1865. Inside today's three-story fiberglass pineapple there's a museum devoted to the fruit. From the top there are great views of the surrounding pineapple fields and countryside. Tractor farm tours and pineapple tastings are also available. Big Pineapple, just off R67, Bathurst; + 27 46 625 0515; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily . 2. South Africa's oldest pub . A pub is the focal point of Bathurst's history. Built in 1832 by British settler Thomas Hartley, it was known as Widow Hartley's Inn after his death. During World War II, a group of British RAF pilots decided it needed a cheerier moniker and renamed it the Pig and Whistle. The "pig" refers to an old drinking peg, or unit of alcohol, and the "whistle" is a corruption of the word "wassail," meaning to drink and be merry. Although the pub has changed hands many times, the name stuck and it remains the oldest continually licensed pub in South Africa. The food is excellent, with fresh produce from neighboring farms. Pig and Whistle, 268 Kowie Road, Bathurst; + 27 46 625 0673 . 3. Offbeat and eccentric stores . As a community of artists, academics and musicians, many residents say they were attracted by the village's creative spirit. Some came for a weekend and never left. The Coathanger, a retro and vintage clothing store specializing in "shabby chic," is one among a group of art galleries and craft shops with funky collections. The store feels like a museum -- old suitcases are stacked beside a 1970s toaster alongside piles of vinyl records and "Boys Own" annuals dating to the 1950s. Out front, the small lawn is bordered by lavender bushes and features a white ceramic toilet topped with a pair of black stilettos. "The toilet? I'm going to plant strawberries in it," says owner Lindi Pieterse, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a sleepy little town, but it really comes to life on a Sunday -- that's when the hippies come out," says resident Marcel Pullen who runs a pottery studio and shop with her husband. "People live here because they want to get away from it all and there are some really interesting people here, like the couple down the road that run the Dancing Donkey." That would be paleontologist Rob Gess and his wife Serena, whose unusually named shop in a small thatched hut sells African arts and crafts made by local artisans, as well as Serena's own line of natural organic products. The Coathanger, Main Road, Bathurst; + 27 72 064 7002 . Richard Pullen Open Studio, 613 Kowie Road; + 27 46 625 0166 . The Dancing Donkey, Ndlambe, Bathurst . 4. Cheesy humor and kitsch memorabilia . Visitors encounter plenty of the village's cheesy humor. An advertisement for the Pig and Whistle boasts: "There's no thirst like Bathurst." Meanwhile, the pub door is inscribed with a bon mot of its own: "Bathurst is a drinking village with a farming problem." Inside, a wall is dedicated more wisecracks: "Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband." A leftover from early settlers, this is British wit at its silliest -- the sort found on old school seaside postcards and one-liners that might've gotten a rise out of Benny Hill. Souvenirs of these gags can be found at The Corner Art Gallery, which sells shirts that can be printed with the customer's name alongside the line "Instant Idiot -- just add alcohol." The gallery also sells beautiful ceramics, art and fabric prints. The Corner Gallery, corner of York and Trappes, Bathurst; + 27 46 625 0114 . 5. A museum of hoes and wagons . Ever wonder what an ostrich incubator looks like? Bathurst Agricultural Museum has the answer. Set up in 1970 to house old farming equipment, the museum now has more than 1,300 pieces on display, from ox wagons, old tractors and wagons to old dairy utensils and a steam engine. Bathurst Agricultural Museum; + 27 72 408 4858; Monday-Saturday. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Kate Whitehead is a Hong Kong-based writer who recently visited South Africa. She's the former editor of Cathay Pacific's inflight magazine, Discovery.

Bathurst is a creative community of artists, musicians and academics . The town's quirky venues include a giant pineapple building and an agricultural museum . Pig and Whistle is South Africa's oldest pub .

(CNN) -- Despite the global financial crisis, China's rich are getting richer. "As of April this year, China has 960,000 millionaires with personal assets of 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million)," says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Research Institute, which compiles China's rich list. "It has 60,000 super-rich with 100 million yuan assets, and their numbers keep growing," he says. The newly affluent are getting more outwardly mobile, too. Nearly half of them are thinking of emigrating overseas, according to a Hurun Research Institute report. About 14 per cent of them have or are in the process of applying for emigration, it said. "In Chinese, emigration refers also to getting a permanent residency, or a 'green card'," Hoogewerf explains. "We estimate this to make up 80% of the total who want to 'emigrate'." Many businessmen are capitalizing on this trend. Among them is Larry Wang, founder and chairman of Well Trend United Inc, one of the leading immigration consulting companies in China. Born and bred in Beijing, Wang went to Canada in 1985 for post-graduate studies. He stayed until 1995 when he decided to return to Beijing. "China's economy then was changing rapidly," he recalled. "I asked myself, what does Canada have to offer China? Maple syrup and immigration. I couldn't sell syrup so I got into the immigration business." His business has grown the past 17 years. Well Trend now employs 500 people who work in 10 major cities across China, handling immigration and student visa applications. The company charges 12,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan to help clients secure student and immigrant visas. "Over the years we've helped more than 10,000 applicants for immigration," Wang says, including many millionaires. But why are China's newly affluent seeking to emigrate? Some do so for convenience, experts say. "A foreign passport makes it a lot easier for them to travel around the world," Wang says. "They don't want to go through tedious visa applications all the time." China's new rich -- a mixed group of Red capitalists, young tycoons and up-and-coming "fuerdai" (second-generation capitalist scions) -- are typically cosmopolitan and tech-savvy, frequent travelers who are willing to pay a premium for convenience. They are also ready to spend on education for their children to give them a competitive edge in a new kind of rat race, in which millions of Chinese are striving for advancement. Wang remembers the case of Li Weijie, 44, a longtime client who emigrated to Canada more than 10 years ago and who refers to the move as "the best decision I've ever made in my life." Liu's teenage son did not excel at school in China, but after entering the University of British Columbia he blossomed and is now doing well in Canada. Liu, a real estate mogul, is still doing a lucrative business in China. Likewise, many Chinese millionaires who apply for U.S. "alien investor's visa" --applicants have to commit $500,000 to $1 million in capital investment -- seek permanent resident status there so their children will have easier access to U.S. education. "In the long run, after their children complete their undergrad or graduate studies, they would have the opportunity to compete for jobs without having to find an employer willing to sponsor them for U.S. work visas," says Joyce Gomez, an immigration lawyer based in Washington. A small percentage of the applicants, she adds, intend to operate their own businesses in the U.S. after they obtain permanent resident status. Hoogewerf cites other reasons. He says some millionaires opt to leave to escape China's insufficient medical care, pollution and food safety. "There is also an element of insurance against economic, social and potential political unrest," he says. Still, Wang does not see the spike in emigration as a mass exodus of millionaires. "It's very normal that people would want to leave and see the outside world after they've made a fortune," he says. "The same thing has happened in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea." Wang thinks it's a good thing. "It's globalization," he says. "It facilitates exchange of business ideas and helps bridge cultural gaps." Even when they emigrate, experts say, most Chinese elite keep one foot planted in China. "They keep their businesses here," says Victor Lum, a former immigration specialist at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and now a top executive at Well Trend. "These millionaires are familiar with China's unique culture," says Lum. "They have succeeded here, but success elsewhere is not guaranteed." Hoogewerf agrees. "When weighed against the gains to be made in China today, not to mention the prevailing confusion in the European and U.S. markets, most Chinese prefer to keep significant part of their assets in China," he says. "This is also where they are 'at home' no matter their passport or residency." Some 40% of the Chinese millionaires polled by the Hurun Research Institute prefer to set up their "second home" in the U.S., followed by Canada, Singapore and Europe. "The U.S. requires shorter time of stay in the country to gain permanent resident status and their other procedures are less complicated," says Wang. But the hurdles on the way into America are high, too, says Gomez. "An alien investor applicant must be able to demonstrate that the funds invested were obtained from a legitimate source," she explains. An applicant may also be rejected if they are unable to demonstrate that their capital investment in the enterprise will create or preserve at least 10 jobs for qualified American workers within the U.S. Legal fees from immigration attorneys that prepare the applications are not cheap. "It can range from $15,000 to $25,000," says Gomez. But for the Chinese millionaires, that's small change.

Nearly half of China's super rich are thinking of emigrating overseas . China's new rich are typically cosmopolitan and tech-savvy . Some emigrants intend to operate their own businesses in the U.S.

Washington (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put proposed gun legislation on pause Thursday, setting it aside for now after the defeat a day earlier of major provisions sought by President Barack Obama and Democrats in the aftermath of the Newtown school massacre. The move emphasized the solid victory for the National Rifle Association and its conservative Republican allies in what Obama called "round one" of the fight for tougher gun laws. It also shifted the gun debate from details of particular proposals to political sniping by both sides in an attempt to generate public support on the divisive issue. "The next stage is blame avoidance," noted Darrell West, the vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. "Each side will seek to blame the other for the failure to address this important problem." In announcing his temporary shelving of the gun legislation, Reid criticized Republicans for orchestrating Wednesday's defeat of expanded background checks on gun buyers, a top priority of Obama and Democrats that national polls show is supported by about 90% of Americans. He said Obama agreed with him that "the best way to keep working towards passing a background check bill is to hit pause and freeze the background check bill where it is." "This debate is not over," the Nevada Democrat declared on the Senate floor, adding that the Republican opposition to expanded background checks was "not sustainable" in the face of public support for the measure. On Wednesday, Obama angrily accused Senate Republicans of doing the NRA's bidding in opposing a bipartisan compromise that would expand background checks for private transactions at gun shows and all Internet sales. In unusually harsh language, he accused the NRA and its allies of spreading lies about the compromise drafted by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania as part of a campaign to defeat it. A litany of supporters of tougher gun laws also condemned Republicans on Thursday, including a group of mayors led by New York's Michael Bloomberg and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously wounded in a 2011 shooting attack. Conservative GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas responded Thursday by condemning Obama for taking "the low road" in the debate. Speaking on the Senate floor, Cornyn tried to position Republicans as the ones seeking new gun laws by challenging Reid and Democrats to work with them instead of putting the measure aside. He also sought to distance himself from the gun lobby, declaring he worked for the citizens of Texas rather than the NRA and insisting that "those of us who did not agree with the president's proposals are not being intimidated." "It's absolutely false to say it comes down to politics," Cornyn said. After the Senate voted down a series of amendments Wednesday, including watered-down measures to expand background checks and ban some semi-automatic firearms, it passed two amendments Thursday to the bill Reid later shelved. One was a GOP plan to protect the privacy of gun owners while the other was a bipartisan proposal to strengthen mental health programs. The decision by Reid indicated that he wants to see if calls for increased public pressure can influence more Republicans to defy the NRA, which scores legislators on their voting records and seeks to influence election campaigns involving candidates it supports or opposes. Wednesday's votes showed the challenge Democrats face. The compromise on expanded background checks forged by Manchin and Toomey, both with A-rated voting records from the NRA, failed on a 54-46 vote. It needed 60 votes to pass under an agreement reached by Senate leaders that applied to all the amendments. Four Republicans broke from the NRA's position to support the background check plan, while four Democrats from pro-gun states offset them by opposing it. Reid also voted "no" in a procedural move giving him the ability to reintroduce his party's top priority for a gun package at a later date. In other votes Wednesday, Republican proposals received stronger support. For example, a proposal by Cornyn that would have made state permits to carry concealed weapons acceptable throughout the country failed on a 57-43 vote. To Erica Lafferty, the daughter of the principal of the Newtown, Connecticut, school who was killed along with 20 first-graders and five other educators in the December attack, the Senate result amounted to inaction in the face of a national tragedy. "The next time there's a mass shooting and they're asked what they did to prevent it, they're going to have to say nothing," she said. On the other side, the NRA's Chris Cox called the expanded background check proposal "misguided," saying it would not reduce violent crime "or keep our kids safe in their schools." In the House, some Democrats and Republicans are proposing a measure similar to the Manchin-Toomey compromise defeated by the Senate. While its chances appear remote, based on the chamber's GOP majority, Obama and Democrats urged people to insist that their elected leaders pass the background check measure that has strong public support. "You need to let your representatives in Congress know that you are disappointed, and if they don't act this time, you will remember come election time," Obama said. Republican opponents of the new gun laws parroted the NRA position that expanding background checks would be a step toward a national gun registry and eventual federal confiscation of firearms, a claim that Obama and sponsors of the compromise called false. Some opponents argued the language of the compromise would burden law-abiding gun owners seeking to sell their guns privately over the Internet. Cornyn and others called for a more limited bill that would focus on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and people adjudicated as mentally ill, rather than seeking to expand background checks beyond current limits. Democrats responded that such an argument was contradictory, because the expanded background checks would prevent criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining firearms. "It's inconceivable to me that someone could believe that you can keep guns away from criminals and the dangerously mentally ill without at a minimum having a background check," said Rep. Mike Thompson of California, who was leading the Democratic gun law effort in the House. The debate over gun laws is not going away, according to West, the Brookings analyst. "I expect this issue to remain on the public agenda," he said, "because shootings happen all the time and large numbers still favor tougher background checks."

NEW: Sen. Cornyn denies a political motive in GOP opposition to tougher gun laws . Sen. Reid says the Senate will return to the gun legislation at some point . Now comes the blame game, an analyst says . The Senate defeated key provisions on Wednesday .

(CNN) -- When David Kronmiller wakes up and sits down at his computer in the morning, he usually checks the Huffington Post, the Drudge Report, Politico and the polls on RealClearPolitics. But the day after the election, he realized he didn't need to check those polls. There weren't any. David Kronmiller will focus on writing and filmmaking now that he doesn't have election polls to check. "There is some sadness to that," said Kronmiller, a North Hollywood, California, resident who frequently contributes his views to iReport.com. Although he supported President-elect Barack Obama since the primaries, the end of the presidential election means he won't have a race to follow anymore. "I expect serious withdrawal, like, tonight or tomorrow," he said Wednesday. After two intense years of campaign ups and downs for both major U.S. political parties, the nation has finally settled on a president. Although initially, Obama's victory brings celebrations for supporters, experts say the let-down that voters of each side may feel after the campaign is akin to postpartum depression. "There's this run-up: OK, it's nine months, and then the baby is delivered," said Rosalind Dorlen, a clinical psychologist in Summit, New Jersey. "All of the waiting is over, and the focus of the attention is no longer on the pregnant woman, but there's all kinds of feelings about the loss of the pregnancy. "Maybe we will have some people who will have post-election depression because they have been expectantly looking forward to this blessed event that they participated in," she said. Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist Wilmette, Illinois, started seeing some post-election despair even before the final results came in. Some of her patients wondered what they would do with their time in the absence of polls and campaign coverage. "This lady is in her 80s, and she told me she's never in her life been excited about a campaign as she is about this campaign, and she knows it's filled this void in her life," she said. Supporters of the winning candidate may feel as if they are going through withdrawal from a drug, Molitor said. They may also develop anxiety over what will change with the new president or become cynical about anything changing at all. By contrast, someone whose favored candidate lost may go through something similar to grieving: starting with numb disbelief and then moving to anger, sadness and, eventually, recognition of the need to move on, she said. Mourning over a lost campaign resonates with Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor who worked on Al Gore's campaign in 2000. In a column for CNN.com, she recalled feeling lost and disillusioned at first, and had no idea what to do with her life. "It hurts like hell," she wrote. "It is like death of someone close to you -- the difference is no corpse or casket to help bring closure, just more election analysis and pundits spewing out what you did wrong." She advises staff members, volunteers and supporters of candidates who lost on Tuesday to let out their grief: "Grieve. Mourn. Let it out." Read Donna Brazile's 'A letter to the losers' To combat the letdown of the period after the election, Molitor advises people to put routine back into their lives. Political junkies who lost their sleeping and eating routines should get back on schedule, she said. They should also take part in community activities, such as book clubs or other interest groups. Even supporters of winning and losing candidates may feel a little off for two weeks or more, she said. For some, the excitement will continue for a couple of weeks, until the reality sets in that the candidates they elected won't be able to do anything until January, said Jana N. Martin, a licensed psychologist in Long Beach, California. Anyone who feels depressed, hopeless or powerless after the election should realize that they as individuals have the ultimate control over their everyday lives, she said. "The president is not going to find you a job; the president is not the one who manages your individual budgets," she said. "If people want changes, they can do that in their day-to-day lives. They don't need a candidate to do that." Those who feel truly overwhelmed should see a psychologist who can help them think out loud, she said. Aric Butler, a Pennsylvania State University student who supported Sen. John McCain, said he's not upset that Obama won but does feel a sense of withdrawal. "I love discussing and debating politics, and now that the election is over it seems like nobody wants to discuss politics anymore, which is very disappointing (in) this short (time) after the election," he said in a recent e-mail. But for some, the end of the election season brings feelings of relief. Alex Khanye, a student at California State University in Sacramento and a McCain supporter, said Thursday that he feels better now than throughout the campaign because of the bitterness and anger that it sparked in some people. A few weeks ago, when he was at a rally, someone slashed the tires of his car, which had a McCain bumper sticker. "We had all kind of accepted that Obama was going to win probably, for the last month for so, so it wasn't like we were really that hopeful going into the election, so we had come to grips with it, at least I had," he said. "I'm ready for everything to kind of go back to normal." Others say the end of the election simply means they'll have more time to focus on other aspects of their life. Adam Sieff, a Columbia University student who supported Obama, said he'll now have more time to concentrate on schoolwork and maintains that his "withdrawal" will not be of postpartum proportions. With more free time in the absence of campaign-following, Kronmiller said he's going to get focused on his own writing and filmmaking. iReport.com: 'Obama won -- now maybe we can move forward' "As (Obama) said (Tuesday) night, it's time to get to work, and get things moving forward again, instead of all this fighting, all this resistance that we've had," he said.

Supporters of both winners and losers in the 2008 elections may feel let down . Experts: Avid followers may feel depression, grief, withdrawal . Some say they're just ready for the elections to be over . iReport.com: What does Obama's victory mean to you?

(CNN) -- A man who'd been grazed with a bullet helped subdue a gunman. An intern tended to the wounded congresswoman whose staff he'd joined just days before. A woman put an extra ammunition clip out of the gunman's reach, and a doctor who'd witnessed the shooting performed CPR on the injured. CNN Heroes salutes the following people who responded to Saturday's shooting at a political event outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona -- a shooting that killed six people and wounded 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords -- with acts of courage. Retired Army Col. Bill Badger and Roger Salzgeber . Badger and Salzgeber were two of the men who helped subdue the gunman during a pause in the shooting, according to witnesses. Badger, 74, was at the event to meet Giffords. He hit the ground when the shooting started and felt a sting on the back of his head -- he'd been grazed by a bullet. When the shooting stopped, Badger stood up and found the shooter was right in front of him, he said. "One other individual that was there to meet with the congresswoman took one of the chairs that they had been sitting on, folded it, and hit (the gunman) ... right on the shoulders," Badger told CNN's "The Situation Room" on Monday. It's not clear who hit the gunman with the chair. Badger, bleeding from his wound, grabbed the suspect's left wrist, "and with my right hand I hit him right between the shoulder blades, and he was going down," Badger said. When the suspect was on the ground, another person took a gun away from him, Badger said. Salzgeber helped to subdue the gunman, according to media reports, but his exact role isn't clear. Various people kept the gunman down for a few minutes until authorities arrived. Badger said the real hero is "the individual that picked up the chair and hit (the gunman), and the other individual who helped me take this individual down to the ground." A man authorities accuse of being the gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, was arrested and has been charged in federal court in connection with the shooting. Badger was treated for the bullet graze and released. Joe Zamudio . Zamudio was one of the people who helped keep the suspect pinned to the ground after he had been taken down. Zamudio was inside a nearby Walgreens when he heard the gunfire. He said he ran outside and saw people wrestling with the suspect. "I laid on him and held him down, and made sure the gun was down," he said. Patricia Maisch . Maisch, 61, is credited with taking an ammunition clip from the suspect after he was wrestled to the ground. Maisch said that she dropped to the ground when the shooting started. She was about 20 feet from Giffords, who was shot in the head. When the suspect was sent to the ground, the men subduing him shouted for others to get the gun and a clip that had fallen to the ground. The suspect had pulled the clip out of his pocket, Maisch said. "I was able to kneel up and was able to take the magazine ... before he did," Maisch said. Maisch then knelt on the suspect's knees a while before realizing that Badger needed help with his wound. "So I asked another gentleman to kneel on (the suspect's) legs. I went in and got some towels from Safeway and made a compress for Bill and held it on his head until the police came," she said. Daniel Hernandez . Hernandez, a 20-year-old University of Arizona junior, had just started as an intern with Giffords' staff that week. He initially used his bare hands to stop blood gushing from Giffords' head after she was shot. Hernandez, who trained as a certified nursing assistant, lifted her head to make it easier for her to breathe. Eventually workers from the nearby Safeway supermarket arrived with clean smocks to cover Giffords' wound. Hernandez continued to apply pressure to the wound. "My main thing was just to keep her as alert as possible and just keep trying to interact with her. ... The entire time I was with the congresswoman, she was still responding," Hernandez said. "She was obviously in a lot of pain, so I let her know to squeeze my hand as hard as she needed to." After an ambulance arrived, Hernandez rode with her to the hospital. "People have been referring to me as a hero. I don't think that I am. I think the people who are heroes are people like Gabby, who have dedicated their lives to public service," he said. "It just makes me happy to know that I could help her in any way that I could." Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer acknowledged Hernandez in a speech before state lawmakers on Monday, saying he "showed no fear in the face of gunfire." "His quick action in going to Gabby Giffords' aid likely saved her life," Brewer said. Dr. Steven Rayle . Rayle was one of the people who helped hold the suspect down after the takedown. He also administered CPR to some of the wounded. Rayle said he was at the event to meet Giffords at the urging of a friend. He said he was standing at the side of Giffords' table when the shooting started. "I looked up just as the gunman was firing the shot at Congresswoman Giffords. ... To be honest I froze for just a second, not quite understanding what was going on. He continued to fire sort of rapidly, really at point blank range," Rayle said . After the suspect was brought down, Rayle helped to restrain him. But the physician soon afterward started tending to the shooting victims. "In treating gunshot wound victims, it's basically stopping the hemorrhage, and getting EMS there as soon as possible. That's basically the treatment; there's not much else you can do," Rayle said . "(For) those who had actually stopped breathing or had no pulse, CPR was initiated." CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Ted Rowlands, Jessica Yellin, Kiran Chetry, Jason Hanna and The CNN Wire contributed to this report.

CNN Heroes salutes several who jumped into action during Saturday's shooting in Arizona . Six people killed, 14 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords . Retired Army officer, grazed in head with bullet, helped subdue suspect .

(CNN) -- What makes airline passengers happy? Sometimes it's as simple as a smile. Along with mobile check-in, Wi-Fi in the air and other technological advances, the simple act of airline employees smiling is increasing airline passenger satisfaction. Airline passenger satisfaction has improved to its highest levels since 2006, according to J.D Power & Associates' 2013 North America Airline Satisfaction Study released Wednesday. U.S. airlines collect $6 billion in fees . "Traditional carriers have improved significantly across the entire passenger experience, and it is a positive sign to see them turn a corner and starting to rise again, even as there is still more opportunity to improve," said Jessica McGregor, senior manager of J.D. Power's global travel and hospitality practice. "While satisfaction with low-cost carriers only slightly improves, greater gains in the rest of the experience are masked by lower passenger satisfaction with cost and fees." The study measures passenger satisfaction with North American airlines based on the following criteria in order of importance: costs and fees; in-flight services; boarding, deplaning and baggage; flight crew; aircraft; check-in; and reservations. Satisfaction improved in every category, but the largest yearly increases were in the boarding/deplaning/baggage, check-in and aircraft categories. JetBlue, Southwest top the airline rankings . For the ninth consecutive year, JetBlue Airways ranked first for satisfaction among all North American airlines. JetBlue also earned the top score among low-cost carriers for the eighth year in a row. Southwest Airlines was a close second among discount carriers with 770 points to JetBlue's 787. Airlines are ranked on a 1,000-point scale. "Above all, we're grateful for our 15,000 crewmembers that inspire humanity each and every day by going above and beyond to deliver the best customer service in the skies and on the ground," said JetBlue spokeswoman Allison Steinberg, via email. Alaska Airlines topped the traditional carrier rankings, with Delta Air Lines in second place. Alaska scored 717 points and Delta scored 682 points. "We're honored to receive this prestigious recognition from our customers," said Alaska Air Group President and CEO Brad Tilden, in a statement. "Receiving this award six years in a row is a credit to the 13,000 Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air employees who show their dedication to our customers every day and on every flight." Overall satisfaction with the airlines improved to 695 on the 1,000 point scale, a 14-point increase over the 2012 survey. The power of a smile . Despite passengers choosing to check in online rather than talk to someone at an airport ticket counter, how an airline's employees treat customers still counts. Passengers who are greeted by airline staff with a smile, even infrequently, report satisfaction scores that are 105 points higher than among those who never get a smile. Passengers who report airline staff smiling at them consistently report satisfaction scores that are 211 points higher than those who do not get any airline smiles. "Airlines don't have to invest millions of dollars in the aircraft to get employees to smile," said McGregor. A few trainings, including information about the impact on customer satisfaction, may help the cabin and cockpit crew make better eye contact and smile more, she said. Of course it helps to have happy employees. "One of things we see is that when you see companies that have high internal employee satisfaction, they have high customer satisfaction as well," she said. Customers love technology . Now a smile doesn't take care of everything. Customers also want their technology. Those who use Wi-Fi in-flight are happier (39 points happier) than those who do not use it. More than one-third of customers surveyed check in online, and 15% of those technologically savvy fliers use their smartphones or other mobile devices (compared to 6% two years ago). Passengers checking in via mobile applications are the happiest of all fliers checking into their flights, followed by passengers who check in using a mobile device, passengers who check in at an airport kiosk and those who use the main ticket counter. Baggage fees still lower satisfaction . Even attitudes toward baggage fees are beginning to soften. Although passengers are still dissatisfied with being charged for something that used to be included in the price of a plane ticket, they aren't as grumpy about it. The gap between passengers who pay for baggage and those who do not pay shrank to 63 points this year, compared with an 85 point gap last year and a 100 point gap in 2011. Some 37% of passengers who pay for bags agree that the fees are reasonable, compared to 28% last year and 18% in 2011. "Baggage fees are still a point of contention for people, and it's still a 'disatisfier,' but people are starting to accept it's a cost to travel," said McGregor. To help reduce costs, J.D. Power recommends using an airline's mobile application to check in, select seats and receive an electronic boarding pass. If you don't have an airline credit card or frequent flier status to waive baggage fees, look for discounts when checking in online. The passenger satisfaction study is based on responses from more than 11,800 passengers who flew on a major North America airline between April 2012 and March 2013. Overall airline rankings . Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines topped the traditional carrier rankings, followed by Air Canada (671 points), American Airlines (660), United Airlines (641) and US Airways (630). Low-cost carriers JetBlue and Southwest were followed by WestJet (714), Frontier Airlines (708) and AirTran Ariways (705). (AirTran is now part of Southwest.) Do you have anything nice or not so nice to say about North American airlines? Please share your positive and negative thoughts in the comments section below.

JetBlue tops airline satisfaction study for ninth consecutive year . Passengers who use in-flight Wi-Fi report more satisfaction with their airline . An employee smile or two (or more) makes passengers even happier . Fliers still dislike bag fees but not as much as they did last year .

(CNN) -- Over the past month, we've watched from distant shores as Greece has plunged into a debt crisis. Mounting pressure from global financial markets forced Greece to begin a drastic austerity program. With a fiscal deficit of 8.1 percent of GDP and government debt of 115 percent of GDP expected this year, Greece has promised to turn itself around by 2013. To do this, the government has adopted an ambitious fiscal consolidation program that would reduce the annual deficit by 7 percent of GDP this year, 4 percent next year, and 2 percent in 2012 and 2013. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have announced an extraordinary $1 trillion package to support the plan, and the European Central Bank has announced its own extraordinary measures. Are there lessons the United States can or should draw from the Greek situation? First, we are not Greece. The United States is by far the world's largest single economy. Our economy is competitive, diversified and rich in human capital and natural resources. While the rest of the world is important for our growth, our domestic market is vast, which means that, unlike Greece, we can usually rely on domestic demand to drive the economy. At their best, our financial markets are dynamic, have deep pockets and provide the liquidity for our innovative economy. We issue the world's reserve currency, which minimizes our currency market risk. And unlike Greece, because we have currency flexibility, we can adjust the value of the dollar to improve our underlying economic performance, if necessary. But we are facing very serious fiscal challenges, too -- and for many of the same reasons as Greece. Like Greece, our fiscal path is unsustainable for as far as the eye can see. Our debt has surged far above what we have normally been able to manage. And unless fiscal policy changes, it is projected to continue heading up indefinitely. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to exceed 60 percent this year, well above our average for the past 40 years (around 40 percent) and close to a peacetime high. And it's projected to keep on rising. Like Greece (and all advanced industrial countries), we can expect our fiscal situation to get worse in about 10 years, as the baby boomers' retirement accelerates. In a generation, the debt is expected to be well over 150 percent of GDP. By 2050, it's projected to be over 300 percent and still heading upward. We cannot sustain this much debt without a crisis. While the United States may have more fiscal running room than Greece, we won't be able to outrun our creditors if they think we can't manage our fiscal affairs. The impasse in Washington is giving rise to jitters that we can't politically solve our problems, no matter how wealthy our economy. And as the past few weeks illustrate, if we lose credibility with creditors, they may downgrade our debt, demand higher interest rates, and in the worst case refuse to hold our debt because of fear of default. Maintaining the confidence of our creditors is critical for the United States: We depend on capital inflows to close our fiscal gap because our savings rate is so low. It is harder to rebuild confidence than to lose it. Finally, as Greece so vividly illustrates, it is better act on your own timetable and according to your own priorities, rather than have actions forced upon you by financial markets. If the United States can make fiscal changes sooner rather than later, once the economy is on a stronger footing, adjustment can be more gradual and less costly. Then our citizens will be able to manage change more easily. What will it take for the United States to get its fiscal house in order? We need a plan. As we've seen in Athens -- and even on Wall Street over the past week -- uncertainty sows fear, panic and unrest. But our fiscal future does not have to look like this. There is a way forward. America's first fiscal challenge is political will, not ability to pay. In partnership with the American people, U.S. policymakers need to settle on a reasonable and sensible fiscal recovery plan soon that is credible to both the markets and the ultimate financier: the U.S. taxpayer. It should be multiyear to reassure creditors and taxpayers that we can indeed manage our affairs over time and that it will not force draconian austerity, if done correctly. We need to know where we want to go and how we can get there. A clear road map for fiscal change will allow everyone to plan and manage, in contrast to the cold shower the Greeks are being forced to take. In broad economic terms, the answer is simpler than most people realize. As most experts agree, we need to put the budget on track for stabilizing the debt at no more than 60 percent of GDP when we can realistically manage change. (The 60 percent threshold still has credibility for advanced industrial countries in the global marketplace.) Although our debt is below that now, commitments already in place will put us on a higher path, even before the baby boomers start to retire. But we need to start phasing in policy changes soon to shift to a more sustainable debt path. Much like a household budget, a fiscal recovery package also needs to be fair to succeed. Any plan needs to reflect shared sacrifice. Our fiscal problems are so big, everything has to be on the table. Just cutting spending will savage government and prevent it from delivering the things we all rely upon to live our lives and to make them better. Just raising taxes will take money from the poorest and the middle class and rob the country of needed incentives for the investments that boost higher growth. But within budget limits, we also must make sure that any fiscal package promotes our key values and needs: protecting the weakest among us and raising living standards through increasing human capital (including education), promoting innovation and providing basic infrastructure. Ultimately, getting our fiscal house in order is about shared sacrifice -- and shared hope. Putting a fiscal recovery plan in place will hasten the recovery and make living standards higher than they would otherwise be. We don't have to look like Greece does now. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Anne Vorce.

Anne Vorce: We're not Greece, but we have serious fiscal woes for many of same reasons . She says our fiscal path is unsustainable and worsening, our debt is far above normal . U.S. must maintain confidence of creditors, act on its own timetable, she says . Vorce says we need a clear multiyear plan that's credible to markets and to U.S. taxpayers .

(CNN) -- Recently a school principal in Ohio suspended a student for three days after the 10-year-old pointed his finger at another student in class and pretended to shoot. This kind of harsh sentencing is not new. In recent years, we've heard of kids being suspended for pop-tarts chewed into "gun shapes," or for firing an imaginary bow and arrow. In fact, school suspensions over things that could not possibly be guns have been going on for years. Last year, a Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, kindergarten student was suspended from school for allegedly threatening others and herself with a weapon -- her pink "Hello Kitty" bubble gun. Even finger gun suspensions have come up before. In a suspiciously similar Florida case last year, an 8-year-old was also suspended for playing cops and robbers and pretending his finger was a gun. No word yet on whether these kids are part of the same ring of "robbers" -- or "cops," for that matter. The use of imaginary weapons is only escalating. Last year, a 7-year-old in Colorado was suspended from school for throwing an imaginary grenade. This ups the imaginary-weapon ante: Given that real explosives can arguably cause more harm and terror than firearms, should the punishment for an imaginary grenade be greater than that for an imaginary gun? When a kid runs around the room pretending to fly a fighter jet, he or she probably should be expelled or sent to juvie hall, no? After all, an imaginary fighter jet carries imaginary missiles and other fictional ordnance. Indeed, the modern imaginary F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft carries enough imaginary ordnance to lay waste to a small imaginary village. We are having fun here, but only to demonstrate what, logically, we are dealing with when students are caught in the net of "zero tolerance," where the mandatory punishments are anything but imaginary. In our public schools, "zero tolerance" policies impose unwavering, pre-determined consequences for certain behavior, with little or no discretion given to school officials enforcing the policies. You can't blame school districts entirely -- the federal government bears some responsibility. In 1994, the Gun-Free Schools Act, forced each state (upon threat of losing federal funding) to pass laws requiring local educational agencies to, among other things, impose a minimum year expulsion upon a student who brings a weapon to school. Sound familiar? It should. The policy is firmly rooted in the idea of mandatory minimum sentences for adult crimes. Such mandatory minimums remove a judge's discretion to impose any punishment lower than the statutory floor. Mitigating information about the offense and offender becomes irrelevant, because the judge is powerless to impose a below-minimum sentence. Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder urged reform of mandatory minimum sentencing, so that individuals accused of certain low-level federal drug crimes no longer face excessive mandatory minimum sentences. Even the nation's top prosecutor acknowledges that "mando mins" have "resulted in unduly harsh sentences and perceived or actual disparities that do not reflect our Principles of Federal Prosecution." In sum, for adult criminal defendants, the mandatory minimum approach to punishment may be too draconian. For schools and our children, "mando mins" are apparently just fine. Especially when they are repackaged as "zero tolerance" policies. There is no question that students who bring actual weapons to class with evil plans should face harsh penalties like expulsion. But how did we get to Pop-Tarts and fingers? At this point, schools cannot blame the Gun Free Schools Act, because these items are simply not weapons under the applicable definition, 18 U.S.C. ยง 921(a)(3)(4) 18 U.S.C. ยง 921(a)(3)(4). And while it's true Ohio law vaguely requires school boards to adopt "zero tolerance" policies, without a whole lot of guidance, it's clear that schools have irrationally overreacted. Exhibit A? The Columbus School Board's "look-alike" weapon definition upon which this principal apparently based the suspension: . "Possessing, transmitting, or using any kind of firearm, knife, razor, club, chain or other look-alike or replica object or item which can be considered a weapon or used as a weapon." First, a finger is not an "object or item" because it's not separate from your body -- unless you cut it off in shop class. Second, a finger cannot be "considered a weapon" nor can it be "used as a weapon," unless you're Chuck Norris. Third, the policy is also pretty vague. Due process will render a law void for vagueness if its terms are not clearly defined such that a person of ordinary intelligence can readily identify what it prohibits. After reading that policy, do you know for sure what you can and can't bring to school? Did you conclude after reading it that you could not bring your own finger? The school district doesn't burn a lot of calories considering the precarious constitutionality of these policies. This is because the school can just suspend first, and plan on parents and children not having the time or money to invest in litigation over their constitutional rights. School violence is indeed a real threat. On the other hand we must not let terror cause us to jettison common sense. A child's punishment should fit his or her crime. Kindergartners playing cops and robbers using their finger are not the same as disturbed teens with AR-15's on a campus rampage. School officials here are exercising discretion without oversight, and their snap decisions on imaginary weapons are affecting real futures. Even in instances where a school official is capable of common sense, these mandatory sentencing policies can strip away whatever discretion and mercy could have been applied in an individual case. Mandatory sentencing is increasingly being reconsidered as more harmful than beneficial. If we're rethinking it for our inmates, perhaps we should rethink it for the students -- "cops" and "robbers" alike. Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.

Cevallos: Ohio boy, 10, suspended for pretending finger was gun, "shooting" classmate . "Zero tolerance" cases have come up more as schools mete out mandatory penalties . He says the "logic" becomes ludicrous. If you take your hand to school, it's a weapon? Cevallos: Violence is real, but so is loss of common sense .

(CNN) -- Bagpipers sounded "Amazing Grace" on a snowy day at a Utah cemetery as military pallbearers marched to rest the casket of Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, one of 13 people gunned down last week in Ford Hood, Texas. A throng of mourners arrived for the funeral service at a Mormon church in West Jordan, and then solemnly witnessed the burial of the 19-year-old combat engineer set for deployment in Afghanistan. One of six of the Fort Hood victims laid to rest across the country on Saturday, Nemelka was buried at the Utah Veterans Memorial Park, south of Bluffdale. American flags flapped in the freezing wind and a soldier played "Taps" amid a graveside huddle of military comrades, veterans, family members and Patriot Guard Riders, the motorcycle group that honors slain troops. "This one is a little bit hard to understand," said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who spoke to reporters after the church service. He said Nemelka's death is particularly hard to accept because of the circumstances. Authorities say Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, opened fire at a military processing center at Fort Hood on November 5, killing 13 people. Hasan, who was seriously wounded in the incident, was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder -- charges that make him eligible for the death penalty. Nemelka graduated from high school in 2008 and enlisted the same year, and then was ready to deploy to Afghanistan in January. The youngest of four children, Nemelka loved his work as a combat engineer and was being trained to defuse bombs, according to a report in Salt Lake City's Deseret News posted on the Nemelka family Web page. He had been assigned to the 510th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Battalion in Fort Hood. Aaron's uncle, Maj. Kevin Nemelka, read a statement on behalf of his nephew's parents to reporters Saturday. They thanked people who sent cards, flowers and provided food for them and expressed gratitude to their son's military comrades. "During this moment, when grief and sorrow threaten to overwhelm us, we look to our faith, to our family and to our friends for comfort," the statement said. The statement also said the family drew strength from people who lost loved ones and passed along condolences to the relatives of the other victims. In their statement, they made a point to say they were honored to meet President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the Tuesday memorial at Fort Hood. The couple was comforted by the couple's "heartfelt and sincere expressions of sorrow, support and love." "Since that visit, it has been our fervent prayer the president would receive the best advice" and the "inspiration of heaven as he struggles with the problems of our nation, most especially as he wrestles with the difficult decisions on the future of the long and terrible war in Afghanistan and Iraq," the statement said. The five other victims for whom funerals were Saturday were: . Pfc. Michael Pearson . Pearson, 22, of Bolingbrook, Illinois, enlisted in the Army more than a year ago to realize his musical dream. He hoped the military would be his path to college, where he could study musical theory, his brother Kristopher Craig said. Pearson was scheduled to deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan in January, his brother said. He was learning to deactivate bombs and training in the Mojave Desert, said his mother, Sheryll Pearson. She was looking forward to seeing her son at Christmas. He was assigned to the 510th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Battalion in Fort Hood. Spc. Jason Dean Hunt . The 22-year-old from Tillman, Oklahoma, enlisted in the Army in 2006 and spent his 21st birthday in Iraq, his sister, Leila Willingham, said. He chose to re-enlist, dedicating the next six years to the military. Hunt was recently married and set for his second deployment to Iraq, his sister told CNN's "Larry King Live." He graduated high school in 2005 and tested his hand at a career in information technology, Willingham said. He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in Ford Hood. Sgt. Amy Krueger . Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wisconsin, was a high school athlete who joined the military after the September 11 attacks, Kiel High School Principal Dario Talerico told the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Krueger played for the high school basketball and softball teams and graduated in 1998, Talerico said. A high school friend who later shared an apartment with Krueger had fond memories of the sergeant. She was assigned to the 467th Medical Company, Madison, Wisconsin. Capt. John Gaffaney . Gaffaney, 54, of San Diego, California, was an Army reservist and been a psychiatric nurse by training. He worked for two decades in San Diego County, California, where he helped elderly victims of abuse and neglect. Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director of the county's Aging and Independence Services Department, told CNN affiliate KFMB that Gaffaney most recently served as a supervisor for the county's Adult Protective Services Department. Gaffaney was assigned to the 1908th Medical Company, Independence, Missouri. Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow . DeCrow, 32, of Plymouth, Indiana, went to Fort Hood in September to prepare for his deployment to Iraq, which was scheduled for sometime between December and March. Daniel DeCrow, Justin DeCrow's father, told CNN affiliate WSBT in South Bend, Indiana, that his son joined the Army after finishing high school in Plymouth. DeCrow was assigned to the 16th Signal Company, 62nd Signal Battalion, 11th Signal Brigade, Fort Hood.

Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka was buried Saturday in snowy West Jordan, Utah . Nemelka was one of six Fort Hood massacre victims laid to rest on Saturday . The 19-year-old combat engineer was set for deployment in Afghanistan . Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged in the slayings at the Army base in Texas .

(CNN) -- A clean-cut young man buys tons of fertilizer, which he uses to create a huge bomb. He puts it into a box truck, brings it into the middle of the city, and then sets off a massive, and deadly, blast. That happened in 1995, when Timothy McVeigh unleashed terror in Oklahoma City. And it happened again Friday in Oslo, Norway, when, police say, a 32-year-old man sparked a explosion that killed seven people in the heart of the city center. In Norway, the suspect allegedly and then traveled 20 miles to Utoya island, where he gunned down at least 85 others at a youth camp. Sixteen years and nearly 5,000 miles separate the sites of the bombings. Yet Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, said she has been flooded by calls and e-mails from survivors, victims' relatives and others affected by the attack in that Midwestern city who have been shaken by this week's violence in Scandinavia. "It's a senseless and needless attack," said Watkins, noting that the Norway incident caused "flashbacks" for many. "And it's almost exactly what our people went through." It has struck close to home in two parts of the world, in part because both McVeigh and the prime suspect in the Norwegian attacks are being painted as "domestic terrorists." Scores of innocent civilians, including a number of children, were killed in both locations as attackers went after symbols and institutions -- in McVeigh's case a U.S. federal government building, and in the other a Norwegian government building and a youth camp affiliated with the ruling political party. McVeigh had some help from Terry Nichols, who was convicted and is serving a life sentence for conspiracy and manslaughter for helping build the bomb; and Michael Fortier, convicted for failing to alert authorities. Meanwhile, Acting National Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim said that although only one man had been arrested as of Saturday, Norwegian police have yet to determine definitely that only a single person was responsible for both of the Norwegian attacks. Growing up, McVeigh didn't appear to stand out, working at Burger King and a security guard. With his crew cut, the son of a automobile factory-line worker and homemaker looked the part of an all-American and even joined the military, where he became a decorated Army veteran before leaving the service. Anders Behring Breivik, who Norwegian media have identified as the first and then only person detained in the more recent attack, appears to fit the role of a quintessential Norwegian. Pictures show him with blond hair, blue-green eyes and chiseled features, dressed in a preppy style. He had been a youth and adult member of the conservative Fremskrittspartiet (FrP) or Progress Party, VG newspaper reports, but there has been no indication he'd ever been arrested prior to this week. Yet police say they believe the Norwegian is responsible for the deadliest attack ever on its soil. That was true for McVeigh, too, before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "When it's one of your own, when it's one of our folks doing it to us, it's hard to stomach," said Watkins, who joined the memorial effort soon after the 1995 attack. Both Breivik, according to reports, and McVeigh had extreme political agendas. In the American's case, this included a growing disillusionment with the federal government. He viewed its treatment of the Iraqi people as that of a schoolyard bully, then became angered at its role in the disastrous raids at the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas, and the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Up through his execution in 2001, McVeigh never expressed remorse for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing that left 168 dead. The suspect in the bombing and mass shooting in Norway conceded the terrorist attacks in that nation were "horrible," but "in his head (they) were necessary," a man who identified himself as the suspect's lawyer told Norwegian broadcaster TV2. Geir Lippestad told TV2 late Saturday that Breivik "is ready to explain himself" in a court hearing Monday. The fact the Norwegian suspect doesn't look the part of a terrorist, especially in an age marked by threats and strikes by members of the Islamic fundamentalist group al Qaeda, doesn't surprise Watkins. One thing the Oklahoma City bombing taught her is that "evil doesn't have to look like a monster." That is one of many lessons learned by people in and around Oklahoma's capital. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said that another is that there's no one, clear path toward emotional recovery from such a traumatic event. "It's impossible to sum up the emotions of an entire city," the mayor said. "It's so emotional individually." Cornett said that, in time, the experience made the Oklahoma City "stronger," more united and more patriotic, invigorated by the sense that "we were not going to let a criminal act tear us apart." And Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg spoke to this sentiment hours after the attacks, when he vowed, "You won't destroy our democracy ... No one will bomb us into silence. No one can scare us from being Norway." The people of Oklahoma City know, more than most, that such resiliency is possible -- but it is also difficult. Watkins said that the city's memorial and museum plans to offer its assistance to the people of Norway, including children's psychiatric counseling and other resources. One lesson that the Midwestern city's residents have learned, the hard way, is that evil exists and it can strike at any time -- at times perpetrated by seemingly the least likely people. "It seems so simple that we should be able to stop this, but it's so much harder than that," Watkins said. CNN's Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report.

Bombs in both Oklahoma City and Oslo were made from fertilizer . Bombers in both cases are described as domestic terrorists, attacking their native countries . Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City terror attack . An Oklahoma memorial chief says she's learned "evil doesn't have to look like a monster"

(CNN) -- Female suicide bombers detonated explosions that rocked two subway stations in central Moscow during rush hour on Monday morning, killing dozens of people, officials said. A Web site associated with Chechen separatists, who have long fought for independence from Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Immediately after the explosions, officials had cast suspicion on the separatists. Chechnya is a southwestern Russian republic, in the Caucasus Mountains region. Years of conflict have been devastating for its infrastructure. Chechnya's population of 600,000 to 800,000 is primarily made up of Sunni Muslims and Russian Orthodox Christians. Thousands have been killed and 500,000 Chechen people have been displaced in their conflict with Moscow. Below is a timeline of the conflict. August 2009 - The head of a humanitarian agency in Chechnya and her husband are found dead, their bodies stuffed in the trunk of their car. July 2009 - A leading human rights activist is abducted and killed near her home in Grozny. Natalya Estemirova, of the Russian human rights group Memorial, had openly criticized Chechnya's authoritarian president, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his methods. April 2009 - Russia declares an end Thursday to its 10-year anti-terror "operation" in Chechnya with the rebel movement largely quashed. The end to the offensive could see the withdrawal of thousands of troops from the Muslim-majority region. April 2007 - Eighteen people are killed when a Russian-made Mi-8 military transport helicopter crashes in Chechnya. Local media reports said the helicopter was shot down by Chechen rebels during a Russian operation. September 17, 2004 - In an e-mail message posted on the Chechen rebel Web site, Kavkazcenter.com, Chechen terrorist leader Samil Basayev claims responsibility for several recent terrorist attacks in Russia, including the Moscow metro bombing, explosions aboard two passenger jets and the taking of hostages at a school in Beslan. September 5, 2004 - The Russian government has one suspect in custody. The death count stands at 335 hostages, including 156 children, along with 26 hostage-takers and 10 Russian special forces soldiers. September 3, 2004 - Russian troops end a standoff at Beslan, a Russia school in which Chechen rebels had taken several hundred students, teachers, and parents hostage. September 2, 2004 - Some Beslan hostages are released. September 1, 2004 - Armed attackers storm a school and herd at least 100 children, parents and teachers -- possibly as many as 400, later revealed to be 1,200 -- into a school in southern Russia where they threatened to kill the children. The hostage takers reportedly demanded the release of more than two dozen prisoners picked up during raids on Chechens in southern Russia in June and a Russian withdrawal all of its forces from Chechnya. Some of the hostage-takers were reportedly wearing explosives belts used in suicide bombings. August 31, 2004 - A female suicide bomber kills nine people and herself, and wounds 51 others when she detonates a bomb outside a subway station in northeastern Moscow. August 24, 2004 - Two Russian passenger planes are blown up almost simultaneously, killing 89. Federal Security Service are focusing on whether acts of terrorism brought down the jets after traces of Hexogen are found in wreckage of planes. Hexogen, a powerful military explosive, has been used by Chechen rebels in other bombings. May 2004 - Akhmad Kadyrov, the president of Chechnya, is assassinated. Kadyrov was elected Chechen president with very strong backing from the Kremlin. February 2004 - 40 are killed and 100 injured when a suicide bomber detonates a bomb on a Moscow metro train. June 2003 - A suicide attack kills 15 people at a concert in Moscow. May 2003 - 59 people are killed when two suicide bombers drive a truck full of explosives into a government complex in northern Chechnya. March 2003 - A referendum upholds the new constitution for Chechnya. October 2002 - Chechen rebels seize a theater in Moscow, and hold over 700 people hostage. Russian forces use gas to neutralize resistance; most of the rebels and 120 hostages are killed. July 2000 - Guerrillas launch five suicide bomb attacks on Russian security bases. The deadliest attack kills 54 people. February 2000 - Russian forces take control of Grozny, and the conflict begins to wind down. September 1999 - Apartment buildings in Moscow, Buynaksk and Volgodonsk are bombed, resulting in the deaths of nearly 300 people. All of the bombs used were found to contain hexogen. August 1999 - Islamist rebels launch incursions into neighboring Dagestan. Russian forces respond by moving into Chechnya in September. August 31, 1996 - A peace accord is signed and Russian troops soon withdraw. May 1996 - A cease-fire is declared, but fighting continues. Chechen rebels seize key government sites. June 1995 - Chechen rebels kill over 100 hostages in a Russian town. February 1995 - Grozny falls to Russian forces. 1994 - Russia sends 35,000-40,000 troops in to Chechnya to stop the rebellion. 1991 - Chechnya begins fighting for independence from Russia. Moscow sends troops in, but withdraws them after a few days.

Chechen separatists claim responsibility for Moscow subway attacks . Chechen separatists have fought for independence from Russia since 1991 . Thousands have been killed and 500,000 displaced in the two decades since then . Sunni Muslims, Russian Orthodox Christians form population of 600,000 to 800,000 .

Hong Kong (CNN) -- In 2008, as the financial crisis reverberated around the globe, Allan Chau worried how his business manufacturing parts for the auto industry would weather the downturn. But the Hong Kong-based factory owner didn't look for ways to cut costs or hire a management expert. Instead, he consulted a feng shui master, who recommended moving the factory gate from the south side to the west. "A lot of people went bankrupt that year but our sales doubled," says Chau, the general manager of Tien Po Precision Manufacturing. Chau, who has been consulting feng shui masters for two decades, embodies Asia's embrace of the old and the new in its approach to doing business. He has an advanced degree in engineering from Cornell University in the United States and employs 1,400 at a company that turns over $2 million a year. Despite Western skepticism, for him feng shui is an essential business tool. "I only believe in numbers but I have an open mind," says Chau. An ancient Chinese system of boosting your luck through the positioning of objects and of predicting fortunes through dates and traditional texts, feng shui -- literally wind water -- is used in a variety of different ways. Shopping malls, office towers and casinos across Asia draw on its principles in their design in an attempt to create prosperity. And individuals often consult feng shui masters to decide on the best date to get married, give birth or move house. Chau says feng shui masters have helped him solve a variety of problems that have cropped up at his company, and, in some years, he has spent up to $100,000 on consultations. Most recently, he sought advice on a staff issue after a number of long-serving technicians working at his factory in China left on bad terms. In a bid to get the compensation laid-off workers are entitled to, the technicians started turning up to work and doing nothing. Chau said he had little choice but to fire them and pay up. Fed up, he asked his feng shui adviser to pay a visit. He told Chau the toilet door faced the main entrance and the bad air flow meant people did not leave happily. "He said why don't you build a wall to block the air flow," said Chau. "After the change, I didn't pay a penny more," he said. At the behest of various feng shui masters, Chau has also changed the color of the blinds in his conference room from green to milky white and added an aquarium to his office. However, he has so far resisted advice to move his Hong Kong head office from its current location: "That's talking about real money." Kerby Kuek, the feng shui master who helped Chau with his staff problem, says that 60% of his clients are businesses. The run-up to the Lunar New Year, which this year began on February 10, is Kuek's busiest time as clients want their "annual audit" to maximize their good fortune in the year to come. Before meeting the client, he will study their office floor plan and log onto Google Maps to form a better understanding of the building's location. "Feng shui deals with the natural environment. We try to harness the kind energy and avoid unkind energies," he says. His advice ranges from the office layout to the right color of staff uniform to changing light bulbs and fixing cracked tables -- particularly if they are located in the southern corner of the office, which signifies fire and passion. He will also vet potential staff by looking at photos and birth dates. A person born in the summer months of a Snake year is best suited to back office work, says Kuek, referring to one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. "Whereas if you are born in the year of the Bull, born in winter, these people need to be out front meeting people and being aggressive," he adds. Kuek is down-to-earth and his language is peppered with terms from his day job -- selling stocks and shares for an investment bank. His background in finance makes corporate clients more comfortable and none of his co-workers find his sideline strange, he says. Watch: Feng shui in Hong Kong office buildings . Kuek's clients also include multinational companies that find they have to take matters like feng shui seriously as they expand in Asia. For example, auction house Sotheby's only began work on its new office space in Hong Kong last year after a feng shui master chose an auspicious date. And in Sydney, the Star City Casino has added a "feng shui awning" as part of a $760 million redevelopment. Dr Michael Mak, from the University of Newcastle in Australia, studies how feng shui can be used in urban design and architecture from what he calls a scientific stand point. He says there is "soft data" in the form of surveys and interviews that suggests buildings that adhere to feng shui principles make their occupants happier -- be it a shopping mall, office block or a hospital. And he points to the popularity of atriums or courtyards that bring the natural environment into a building as one way the principles of feng shui are manifested in modern architecture. Mak is skeptical of the cosmic claims of "popular" feng shui and says it's an area that needs to be looked at more critically. Feng shui advice does not come cheap and there have been a number of scandals involving unscrupulous practitioners. Kuek charges HK$10,000 ($1,300) for a consultation for an office under 200 square foot and up to HK$50,000 ($6,500) for a 2,000 to 5,000 square foot office. Chau says he has come across some bad masters. One adviser told him to paint his office walls black. Another pedaled expensive feng shui objects. Despite this, Chau has not been put off and will be making an appointment to see how he and his business will fare in the Year of the Snake. "Feng shui cannot make things happen but it can assist you and make things easier."

Many companies in Hong Kong and China consult feng shui masters . One businessman tells CNN he regards the ancient philosophy as a business tool . The ancient Chinese belief system is supposed to boost good fortune . Lunar New Year the busiest time for feng shui advisers as companies seek "annual audit'

(CNN) -- The major talking point at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer was the extent to which experts had got their predictions wrong. In April, the U.S. Department of Justice forced the three largest online poker sites to close their doors to American customers, essentially imposing prohibition on one of the undisputed boom industries of the 21st century. The knock-on effect to poker's flagship tournament series was expected to be profound, with player numbers predicted to plummet, perhaps by as much as 60%. But they didn't. There was almost no change in attendance at all. Despite an industry in turmoil there were still 6,865 players handing over $10,000 for their chance at a near $9m payday at the prestigious Las Vegas tournament known as the "Main Event". These are the kind of numbers, and dizzying sums of money, to which poker players have grown accustomed over the past decade, when the game has undergone a sensational explosion in popularity. Although its legality in the United States has been uncertain since 2006, a study in 2009 by Poker Players Research showed that 10 million Americans played online poker, and it had grown into a worldwide industry worth at least $2.5bn dollars a year in revenue. The game in the short term is a combination of skill and luck, but the keen financial acumen of the best exponents meant thousands of people played online poker professionally, making their living solely from the game. When the sites were closed to Americans in April, not only was the single largest market quarantined, cutting the operators' profits, but many professional players essentially lost their jobs. Analysts were fearing the worst. Yet although players in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) came from 85 countries, two thirds of the field was American. It seemed the online prohibition had only enhanced the appetite for poker in the game's traditional capital and the casino poker rooms were packed. The robust numbers, however, put a misleading gloss on an industry still mired in controversy. At the time the Department of Justice closed the poker sites -- on what has become known as "Black Friday" -- poker operators' bank accounts were frozen and millions of dollars of players' funds were put out of their reach. The players -- both full time professionals and recreational dabblers -- were initially unsure when they would see their money again and although PokerStars, the largest site, immediately co-operated with the authorities and repaid more than $100m to its American former customers, neither Absolute Poker nor Full Tilt Poker, the two other indicted sites, have yet paid back a penny. Rumors became increasingly voluble that the funds had been diverted into marketing and operational budgets, in contravention of rules governing online gambling sites. Although Full Tilt Poker initially continued to operate outside the United States, it had its licence suspended by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission in the Channel Islands in late June and has not traded since. "The atmosphere (at the World Series of Poker) was definitely deflated," said Dave Behr, a poker industry executive and analyst. "The continuing fallout from the Full Tilt situation -- notably the total silence from Full Tilt Poker as to when U.S. players might expect to receive their money -- put a damper on the whole Series. Every week that went by, the FTP situation seemed to get worse and that in turn siphoned some of the pageantry out of the World Series of Poker." In previous years, early losers from World Series tournaments would simply fire up their laptops and replenish funds at the online tables. This year, the only option for poker enthusiasts was the grind of the "live" tables: plonking down a bundle of bills and dueling face-to-face. But the relative renaissance may not be sustainable. "Live" poker is a far less convenient option than online play: the charges are higher than online; it is only possible to play at one table at once; and human dealers are much slower than their computerized counterparts, and expect tips. Other overheads, including traveling expenses and hotel bills, also sap revenue from bankrolls. It is more trouble than it is worth for many former sofa-based online players. Commentators have suggested that the high turnout in Las Vegas this summer represented one last hurrah for some players, prepared to speculate in full their poker bankroll, which can no longer be parlayed online. "My prediction is that the steep drop everyone feared this year will become a reality in 2012," said Behr. "Black Friday happened close enough to the start of the WSOP, and PokerStars players were paid out fast enough, that players could take 'one last shot' this year." PokerStars, and other operators who have never courted the American market, continue to flourish internationally and some Europe-based players are relishing the absence of Americans from the online tables. "It's actually a good thing from my point of view," said Rupinder Bedi, 30, a British online poker player. "Fields are softer. American players have got a good solid game but now the tournaments are filled with a lot more European players who aren't as good." Bedi also cautioned, however, that many "live" international poker tournaments might suffer from the American lockout. "If there's not a booming budget in online poker, then the whole poker economy will struggle," he said. Legislation for online poker in the United States seems likely in a couple of years, and will probably tempt the major casino chains to expand into cyberspace. Indeed, there is plenty of gossip in poker circles that April's indictments were specifically intended to clear the decks of non-American companies ahead of a concerted push for regulation. But poker at the moment remains a pastime best enjoyed by non-Americans a point perhaps underlined by the cosmopolitan make up of the Main Event final table. When the remaining nine players return to Las Vegas in November to play in the grand final, representatives from the Czech Republic, Ireland, Belize, Germany, Ukraine and the United Kingdom will surround only three Americans, the fewest in the tournament's 41-year history.

In April U.S. Department of Justice shut down numerous online poker sites . Study estimates that 10 million American played online poker, industry worth $2.5 billion . Analysts believe impact of restrictions in U.S. will hit the industry in 2012 . Rumors persist that mainstream casinos will venture into online gaming soon .

(CNN) -- I am probably neither the first nor last critic to say this, but Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" is a flawless film. There is literally nothing wrong with it. I don't have a single nit to pick, minor flaw to point out or little bit that annoyed me. It is pure magic from the first frame to the last. It is proof that to be moving, engaging, enthralling and fun, movies have no need for sex or violence, color or even spoken dialog, for that matter. That's not to say I don't love many films with all those things, but "The Artist" has distilled cinema to something it so rarely achieves: pure joy in art. This is not art for art's sake, this is art for enjoyment's sake. It's not an "important" film that we all need to see because it's great art (although it is both important and art) it is a film that everyone should see because it's joyous. It's stunningly beautiful. It's a throwback to some of the things that brought people into the cinema in the first place. The chance to escape their lives and live someone else's for a time. The story is relatively simple and takes plot elements from "Singing in the Rain," "Citizen Kane" and "A Star is Born" as well as the best of Hollywood melodrama. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a matinee idol, a star of the (silent) silver screen. Along with his faithful Jack Russell terrier (Uggie), Valentin stars in action adventures and is revered by men and women alike. It's the age old story: Men want to be him and women want to be with him. At the premiere of his latest blockbuster, as George is mugging for the cameras and signing autographs, he runs into Peppy Miller (a luminous Bérénice Bejo), an aspiring actor. They meet cute when she is caught in the throng of autograph seekers (she is one herself) and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the policemen holding back the crowd and standing right next to her idol. Taking advantage of the situation, Peppy begins to mug, planting one on her idol's cheek, landing the pair on the cover of Variety and setting the plot in motion, a variation on the old "boy meets girl" standard. While George is reveling in his box office glory and Peppy is hoping to make the most of her instant fame, George's wife, Doris (Penelope Ann Miller), is stewing in jealousy and resentment. And while the photo in Variety is completely innocent, one gets the feeling her fears may not be completely groundless. Peppy lands a gig as an extra in George's next film and the obvious attraction between the two begins to manifest itself. Peppy is a starstruck aspiring actress just beginning her career in show business and George is a veteran movie star and ladies man at the top of his game. You also get the feeling he's been in this situation before. Things are going well for George. Despite the unrest at home, he's got a new film, he's got a new crush and all is right in his world, until the head of the studio, Al Zimmer (John Goodman), begins to embrace the talkies. While Al is convinced that the advent of sound is the future of film, George is convinced the public will stick with him, so he bets on the continued popularity of the silent film. Thus, his career begins to wane, just as Peppy's beings to wax. The end of the silent era (and his marriage) and the crash of the stock market send George into a spiral of booze and self-loathing, with only his faithful dog and chauffeur Clifton (James Cromwell) sticking by him. Bitter over the demise of his career, George even lashes out at what he sees as the symbol of that decline, Peppy. "The Artist" isn't actually a silent film per se, as it has a score and well, I won't spoil it for you, but Hazanavicius' use of sound is ingenious. However, for all intents and purposes, it is silent. For the actors, there was very little difference, as they still speak their lines, we just don't hear them, but for the audience, the change is immeasurable. Instead of watching their faces almost exclusively, we find our eyes drifting across the screen and noticing things that perhaps we might not have noticed otherwise. A subtle cue of body language, the placing of objects within the frame, how the music moves the action along, all of these and more come alive when we're not tied to watching the actors speak. Hazanavicius has a deft hand at directing and a delightful sense of whimsey. The film is peppered with sight gags in the best of classic Hollywood tradition, and both Dujardin and Bejo prove more than up for the task. A brief pantomime between Bejo and one of George's suit jackets is worth the price of admission alone -- and keep your eye on the dog! Hazanavicius and his backers took a huge risk in making the film. They funded a black and white, silent film with two unknown (in the United States) leads and a handful of supporting Hollywood talent. However, when Dujardin picked up the best actor prize at Cannes and reviews started to pour in, they knew they had a winner on their hands. A pure and open love letter to the cinema, "The Artist" contains many nods and winks to the history of this art form and clever viewers will pick up on a few cues. It is, as I have mentioned, a comedy, a melodrama and a romance, but above all, it fulfills the promise of what cinema can be at its best. It takes us on a journey up to the peaks and down in the valleys, through love, loss, heartbreak and despair and right back around again to love. "The Artist" is rated PG-13, although it's on the tame end of the scale. A bird is flipped, there are a few moments of characters in jeopardy and quite a bit of smoking, if that sort of thing bothers you.

"The Artist" is a film everyone should see because it's joyous . The story is relatively simple and takes plot elements from "Singing in the Rain" The film is peppered with sight gags in the best of classic Hollywood tradition .

(CNN) -- Besides charting the nature of space and time and penning the bestseller "A Brief History of Time," Stephen Hawking has another distinction: He beat the life-expectancy odds for people with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Stephen Hawking, shown in Pasadena, California, in March, is hospitalized but said to be "comfortable." Most people with ALS survive only two to five years after diagnosis. Hawking, on the other hand, has lived more than 40 years since he learned he had the disease, which is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease in America and motor neuron disease, or MND, in the United Kingdom. Hawking, 67, was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, England, on Monday in a "very ill" condition, and spent the night in the hospital. He was said to be "comfortable" Tuesday. Bob Hawkins, 75, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, who learned of his ALS diagnosis last year, said Hawking, with his long life and ability to communicate through a voice synthesizer, gives him hope. The physicist should be a role model for people with the disease as well as those without it, Hawkins said. "The man is brilliant, and he has striven through a lot of adversity to accomplish all of the things he has accomplished," Hawkins said. "He should be an inspiration for anyone." The British physicist also embodies the idea of empowering people with ALS to live life to the fullest, said Dr. Lucie Bruijn, scientific director for the ALS Association, in an e-mail. This empowerment theme is part of the mission of the ALS Association, she said. "To have achieved so much in his lifetime while battling Lou Gehrig's Disease is quite remarkable," she said. ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, which results in muscle weakness and atrophy. The disease causes the death of motor neurons, meaning the brain loses its ability to control muscle movement. Hawking has had direct involvement in promoting awareness and research into his disease. He recently agreed to be a patron of the MND Association in Northampton, England, meaning he will lend his name to the charity and support it by attending events, fundraising, or other activities. He has participated in some of the organization's high-profile events, said Mel Barry, communications manager at the MND Association. "He's a very busy man, so it's wonderful that he's publicly supporting us with his very heavy workload," she said. Hawking's case is also unusual because his condition was diagnosed at a young age, said Sharon Matland, vice president of patient services at the ALS Association. People typically are between 40 and 70 when they learn they have ALS; Hawking found out at age 21. Some very rare cases manifest in the late teens, Bruijn said. There have been other rare cases of people living long lives with ALS, although none as famous as Hawking. Barry said she knows of a man in Ireland who has lived with the disease for 30 years -- but only about 5 percent of people with ALS live longer than 10 years. ALS affects 350,000 people worldwide and up to 30,000 people in the United States, the ALS Association estimates. "It totally upsets your entire way of living," Hawkins of North Carolina said. "It slowly takes over your entire muscle structure and eventually your limbs are affected, your speech may or may not be affected. The only part of your body that isn't affected is your mind." Still, patients experience different symptoms, and some do have cognitive impairment, Matland said. They may have trouble making day-to-day decisions, such as choosing which bills to pay first. Hawkins said he first experienced weakness in his legs and arms, typical symptoms of the disease. People with ALS may also find it difficult to lift their arms or feet, Matland said. "You drop things or you can't grasp things as you might have been able to do in the past," she said. Loss of voice is another potential symptom, but some people are able to speak until they die, Barry said. The nature of the disease is that it's very different in each person, she said. Most people with ALS become dependent on a wheelchair -- sometimes within six to eight months, but the time frame varies, Matland said. Typically, the ultimate cause of death is respiratory failure, because ALS affects the muscles used for breathing, she said. David Niven, the English actor known for his roles in "Around the World in 80 Days" and "The Pink Panther," died of ALS at age 73. He suffered from the disease for more than a year. A variety of ongoing clinical trials seek to find an effective treatment for ALS in the U.S. Drugs in these trials include lithium, ceftriaxone, and memantine, according to the ALS Association. A recent study showed there may be a genetic component to the disease. In the UK, the MND Association is funding a trial for lithium, which has produced promising results in mice, Barry said. Psychiatrists currently prescribe lithium, a mood-stabilizing drug, for bipolar disorder and other conditions. An FDA-approved drug called riluzole has been shown to prolong survival for some ALS patients, but extends the life span by only three to six months, Barry said. Typically, palliative care is the main treatment -- managing symptoms rather than stopping or curing them. Stem cell therapy may hold promise for the disease, but the general perception is that research into it is not sufficiently advanced, according to the MND Association. To raise money for research in the U.S., the ALS Association hosts walks across the country. Hawkins said he will be participating in the 2009 Fayetteville, North Carolina, Walk to Defeat ALS in May. "I would encourage everyone to recognize how terrible this disease is, and encourage them to support the ALS Association and research projects," he said. CNN's Jennifer Pifer Bixler contributed to this report.

Stephen Hawking is a rare case of someone who has survived decades with ALS . ALS affects 350,000 people worldwide and as many as 30,000 people in the U.S. Symptoms vary from person to person; some lose their speech but others do not . Clinical trials are in progress for a variety of treatments .

(CNN) -- All of us as drivers have failed at one point or another to yield at a stop sign. Most of the time we get away with it. Sometimes we get stopped by the police. The punishment usually includes a court date and/or a fine. Sometimes, apparently, it can lead to something much worse. In Deming, New Mexico, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court, failing to yield can lead to ... an anal cavity search. The shocking allegations of David Eckert's complaint are worth a read, though at least the defendant-prosecutor has denied many of them. The other defendants include the arresting police officers, the hospital and doctors. Irrespective of whether the allegations are ultimately proven, this lawsuit raises some larger questions: How do police get from a traffic stop to a colonoscopy? The Fourth Amendment protects all citizens from unreasonable search and seizure by the government. It requires that the greater the intrusion upon the person, the greater must be the reason for conducting a search. Is there ever a good reason for this kind of search? The answer is yes. The police can get access to your most intimate parts and even their interiors. The law is clear: Sometimes a search of one's cavity is justified. Fortunately, police can't do this on a whim. They need what we call "probable cause" that that part of your body contains contraband. That means a lot more than an arbitrary hunch or guess. Then, beyond that, they have to convince a judge or a magistrate of the likelihood of contraband in your rectum, and that judge has to issue a search warrant independently -- though defense attorneys would argue this is less an independent process and more a one-sided affair. The only real way around the warrant requirement is an exigency -- that is the evidence is likely to disappear during the delay in securing a warrant. A warrant for an anal cavity search must also provide specifics on the medical procedure to be used to be reasonable. But the underlying question remains: How were the police in this case able to articulate probable cause for a rectal warrant from a traffic violation? Bad posture? According to the complaint, one of the officers noticed Eckert's "posture to be erect and he kept his legs together." It's often said you can read a lot into the way someone carries himself. A lot of people stand different ways. Sometimes it means you have good, militarylike bearing. Other times it means you have a strong back. To police in this case, apparently, standing erect can mean something else: You may have drugs in your anal cavity. And with that interpretation, police have a starting point for their probable cause to get that warrant. To bolster their probable cause, police also allegedly justified the "search" by citing Eckert's reputation. A reputation . Perhaps in school you had a friend who had a reputation for being cheap. That's one kind of reputation. To police, according to the complaint, Eckert had a reputation, too -- for carrying around drugs in his rectum. To most civilians, that doesn't even sound like a kind of reputation. To police, however, that reputation was allegedly further justification for an invasive warrant. It will be interesting to see in this litigation how substantiated this prior reputation was. How does a rumor like this get started? The police in this case also used a narcotics canine to sniff Eckert's vehicle. The canine apparently alerted police to the driver's seat of Eckert's truck. While courts have held that a police canine alert is sufficient probable cause for a drug search of a car, there is no question that the upholstery of a car seat should not be considered the same as the interior of someone's body cavity. Even a canine alert of someone's pants area should not automatically constitute probable cause for a colonoscopy warrant. The law is well-settled in this area: For a rectal search, police need a high degree of probable cause and a warrant. Persistence . Once police were armed with a warrant, Eckert's complaint alleges he was subjected to a prolonged detention, including two trips to different hospitals, two rectal searches, three enemas, two X-rays and a colonoscopy. At each stage, the complaint alleges, no drugs were found, but according to Eckert, the search continued well into the next day with increasingly invasive procedures. If anyone other than the police conducted this kind of nonconsensual physical invasion of another's rectum, based upon a posture and a reputation, they'd likely be civilly and criminally liable. But when the police physically invade your person, they often enjoy what's called "qualified immunity" from lawsuits. To be sure, the idea behind immunity for police action is sound: It would be a massive disincentive to law enforcement if it feared liability over every decision. Generally, police won't be liable for bad searches if they have a good argument for probable cause. Courts will consider whether a reasonably well-trained officer would have known that he failed to establish probable cause and that he never should have applied for the warrant. As a society, we accept that the police are empowered to invade our privacy in ways members of the public cannot. If they have the requisite probable cause and a warrant, law enforcement has the power to invade our homes, our vehicles, and -- like it or not -- our rectums. This has led many to ask whether the very people entrusted with the power to invade our bodies physically should legally be subjected to more scrutiny rather than general immunity. Members of the public who are concerned they will be subjected to this kind of cavity search as part of a routine traffic stop can probably rest easy; it appears from the face of the complaint that Eckert was someone who was on law enforcement radar for some time. Just being "known to" police doesn't justify a cavity search, but it assuages the average citizen that his own body is not a high-value target. But at minimum, Eckert's ordeal may make us all think twice about rolling through that next stop sign. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Danny Cevallos.

New Mexico man sues, alleges traffic stop led to anal cavity search by police . Danny Cevallos says police have the right to search body if they have a warrant . Lawsuit says police concluded man was hiding drugs by his posture and by speculation . Cevallos: Police need probable cause to get a warrant and typically have immunity from suits .

Hailey, Idaho (CNN) -- In the days after Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released from nearly five years in captivity, yellow ribbons and banners celebrating his release decorated the main street, red-bricked storefronts of his hometown. A sense of relief and excitement filled the air: Bergdahl would soon be home. But more than four months after Bergdahl returned to the United States, the ribbons and banners are gone. This town's relationship with the saga of their homegrown prisoner of war is complicated. "We're done. We're over it," Hailey Mayor Fritz Haemmerle said as he denied CNN's request for an on-camera interview. "We stood by the Bergdahl family to get Bowe home but we need to move on." Inside a secure locker of the Hailey Police Department, there are boxes filled with thousands of letters for Bergdahl. The letters were sent to the White House as part of a "Bring Bowe Home" campaign started through social media last November, just months before Bergdahl would be released. Stefanie O'Neill, a Bergdahl family friend, spearheaded the letter campaign. In three months, O'Neill said, several hundred thousand letters poured into the White House. A few of those boxes were eventually shipped to Idaho. O'Neill can't bring herself to throw the letters away. "It means that people all over the world cared about Bowe," O'Neill said. "We would hope that he would like to read through them one day to see just how much he meant to so many people." The boxes are a symbol of how the story of Bergdahl's rescue didn't come with a triumphant homecoming. Bergdahl's release on May 30 was instantly doused in controversy. Many of the soldiers who served with him accused the 28-year-old soldier of deserting his unit by walking off the Afghanistan base before he was captured. There was also intense criticism of the Obama administration for trading Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Bergdahl now sits in a sort of limbo. He has completed the Army's formal reintegration program and continues psychological treatment. He is still assigned to a unit with U.S. Army North in San Antonio, performing "administrative duties." But Bergdahl is also waiting to hear if he'll face any criminal charges in the military justice system. In August, he was questioned by Gen. Kenneth Dahl for two days. The Army announced on Friday that Dahl completed the initial report on his findings in the Bergdahl case. The report will now be reviewed by the director of the Army staff and senior Army leaders. "This will be a lengthy process," an Army spokesman wrote. "It would be inappropriate to speculate on the potential results or the amount of time the review process will take to complete." When news of Bergdahl's release broke, his family and friends had hoped for a quick reunion. For nearly five years, the lives of Bergdahl's parents had been consumed by the plight of their son. His father, Bob Bergdahl, has said he kept his clocks set to the time in Afghanistan. He grew a beard, to the dismay of many critics, to show solidarity with his son. Bob Bergdahl also taught himself Pashto, the language of his son's captors, to communicate directly with the Taliban. In the days after his son's release, critics used those details to accuse Bob Bergdahl of sympathizing with the Taliban. Bergdahl's parents have declined all requests for interviews. Family friends say Bob Bergdahl has shaved his beard. But the expected family reunion never materialized and the Bergdahl family soon stopped answering questions about why Bowe Bergdahl was refusing to see his parents. Sources tell CNN that Bergdahl is now "communicating" with his parents, but a face-to-face reunion still has not occurred. The sources would not elaborate on how Bergdahl is communicating with his family. Military officials have said Bergdahl has been given every opportunity to reunite with his family. Bergdahl's attorney, Eugene Fidell, declined to talk about Bergdahl's communication with his family. Bergdahl grew up among a tight-knit community of families in Hailey that home-schooled their children. Tim Kemery's son was one of Bowe's best friends. Kemery said Bowe Bergdahl was raised in an intensely religious atmosphere with a strict code of conduct. Around age 16, Kemery said, Bergdahl left home and embarked on a series of adventures. "No doubt it was some kind of rebellion," Kemery said. But Kemery couldn't say if that childhood rebellion was still a source of tension between Bergdahl and his family. He said he also wonders why the soldier hasn't reunited with his parents. "There may have been something there that was a bone of contention," said Kemery. "Maybe it's the debriefing (reintegration process) or because he feels like he has let them down or for some other unknown reason he just doesn't want to have that emotional recognition again of his parents." Kemery said that as a child Bergdahl struggled to control his frustration and would often disappear for days at a time, building forts and hiking for miles into the Idaho wilderness. Kemery said he sees a parallel between the young Bowe he knew and the soldier accused by fellow soldiers of walking off his military base in Afghanistan in 2009. "Bowe did have a tendency to get really frustrated and just to walk off and throw up his hands," said Kemery. Around Hailey, one often hears people asking the same question, will Bowe Bergdahl ever come back home? Bergdahl must wait to hear what military commanders will determine about his fate. Will he be charged with a crime? Will he be discharged? Bergdahl's lawyer has said the soldier would like to continue his education. Tim Kemery hopes he makes time to visit Idaho. "We have a hunting trip waiting for him. We are going to talk about things around the fire," said Kemery. CNN's Jason Morris contributed to this report.

Bergdahl, held captive in Afghanistan, has been free since May . People in his Idaho hometown worked to publicize him while he was hostage . But his freedom came with questions and town mayor says it's time to move on .

(CNN) -- The KCR train sped north through Hong Kong's New Territories, on its way to the city's border town crossing with mainland China. The spectacular towers and gates of Pingyao, which lie within the perimeter walls, are almost never out of sight. The Kowloon Tong to Lo Wu rail journey took just 35 minutes, and after clearing Hong Kong and Chinese mainland immigration, I stepped out into the bustling metropolis of Shenzhen and looked for a taxi to the airport. The wait was short; the city's full of red battered and tired-looking vehicles and I was soon negotiating with a driver. Forty minutes and 120 yuan ($15) later, I departed the cab and entered Shenzhen airport for my journey to Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province. The flight had been uneventful -- check-in was a breeze and the Boeing 737 had taken off for the three-hour trip north on time. But just before we started our final descent, flight attendants stood in the aisle and took passengers through a bizarre mini aerobic program, all accompanied to Chinese opera. Arms flailed, necks stretched and torsos bent as every passenger attempted to reduce their chances of being hit by deep-vein thrombosis. By the time I checked into my hotel in Taiyuan, darkness had fallen. The three-star abode was passable, though the room's TV carried not one single English channel. How would I survive without CNN, I fretted. I headed out for a walk, on the way passing two female hotel attendants who gave me a city map and some basic information in broken English. Established during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in 497 B.C., Taiyuan today is a fairly nondescript, industrial city known for its steel and coal production. But wandering into the town's heart, it soon struck me that I was in the "real" China, as opposed to expatriate-weary Hong Kong. A double-take here, an odd smile and nod there, confirmed that the slickness of Causeway Bay and the uppity pretensions of Lan Kwai Fong were now far behind. Upon checking out early the next morning I was greeted by the same two hotel workers from the previous night. Didn't they ever sleep? Thankfully not -- they proved true gems by writing a note in Chinese, which requested my train ticket to Pingyao. The written note worked a treat with the ticket master, and after paying just 8 RMB ($1) for the fare, I was following the hordes towards a stadium-like waiting room. Hundreds of passengers, sitting in plastic bucket seats, awaited the boarding announcement. Craggy-faced men passed the time by smoking; families by sharing a pre-prepared meal with their children; others by reading decaying newspapers that looked as if they'd gone to press months before. The boarding call announced, the throngs rushed for the non-air conditioned train carriages. I joined the crush and quickly found seat 084. My seat -- essentially a plank of wood with some back support -- placed me next to a window that, no matter how hard I tried, would not budge open. Thankfully, fresh air began circulating once the train got under way. Outside Taiyuan's city limits, the views quickly changed from harsh industrial wastelands to agrarian vistas of sowed fields and hard-grown crops of corn. Two hours and 100 kilometers (62 miles) later, the train neared one of China's most delightful attractions -- the magnificent World Heritage-listed city of Pingyao. The origins of the town date back more than 1,600 years, but it's the center's Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) layout, still largely intact, that greets the traveler. Ancient 12-meter (40 foot) high walls ring the city over a perimeter of six kilometers (3.7 miles). Thought to have been constructed in 1370, they are possibly the best-preserved example of this kind in China. The city's also known for its prominence as a past financial center. In the early 19th century, Pingyao boasted many money institutions, among them the Rishengchang -- considered China's first bank. A 20-minute taxi ride from the train station delivered me first to the perimeter walls, and then to the car-free town center. I was quickly struck by the laid-back vibe and friendly atmosphere, and was soon checking into one of the town's many 17th and 18th century courtyard-styled guesthouses. Guo Huili, a 19-year-old local who worked at the accommodation, checked me in and showed me my quaint digs -- a Ming-furnished room decorated with scented candles and plenty of choices of fragrant tea. Listen to Guo Huili and view Pingyao's stunning streetscapes » . As impressed as I was with my initial introduction to Pingyao during daylight hours, it's at night that the city truly shines. If you've ever seen Zhang Yimou's wonderful "Raise the Red Lantern" (filmed near Pingyao in 1991), you'll understand. Red and other colored lanterns, small and large, blaze at every step along the cobbled streets, which are lined by shops selling all types of knick knacks. The spectacular towers and gates, which lie within the perimeter walls, are almost never out of sight -- all bathed in an atmospheric golden light. The absence of cars and hawkers, little tackiness and an incredibly relaxed atmosphere (at least for Chinese standards) means Pingyao hasn't turned into a tourist circus -- yet. I strolled around for hours, taking in the sites and losing myself in the historic ambience and classic architecture before the day's weariness began taking affect. It was time to retire back to my room to try that fragrant tea. Part 2: Pingyao to Xian .

One of China's best attractions is the World Heritage-listed city of Pingyao . Red and other colored lanterns blaze at every step along the cobbled streets . There are no cars and hawkers, little tackiness and a relaxed atmosphere .

(CNN) -- Bangladesh's prime minister acknowledged Thursday that her nation's garment industry is beset with problems, but said her government is moving rapidly to fix them. "Bangladesh now is a place for good conditions for the investment," Sheikh Hasina told CNN's Christiane Amanpour eight days after a nine-story building collapsed on the outskirts of Dhaka, killing at least 437 people, most of them garment workers. She said 2,437 survivors were pulled from the rubble, where recovery work was continuing. "Yes, there are some problems," she said, but added that a committee has been formed to ensure the safety of buildings and workers. "This committee will submit the findings to the Cabinet committee and, side by side, we have been trying our best to improve the situation." Hasina expressed little fear that international companies would stop doing business in Bangladesh as a result of the disaster. Investors have tapped into the Bangladeshi market not just because of its high-quality workers, she said. "They get cheap labor," she said. "That's why they come here." Bangladesh vs. the U.S.: How much does it cost to make a denim shirt? But at least one company has pulled out of Bangladesh, citing a spate of fatal factory accidents. The Walt Disney Company sent a letter in March to vendors and licensees to transition production out of the "highest-risk countries," such as Bangladesh, in order to bolster safety standards in its supply chain. Disney will halt production in four other countries: Ecuador, Venezuela, Belarus and Pakistan, by April 2014. The decision was made before last week's building collapse. It was prompted by the November fire at the Tazreen Fashions Factory in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka that killed 112 people, and another fire in Pakistan that killed 262 garment workers last September. Disney pulls out of Bangladesh factories . Asked about reports that only 18 inspectors are responsible for overseeing safety conditions in more than 100,000 garment factories in and around the capital city, Hasina said, "We don't depend on only ... those inspectors." Steps to improve conditions were taken before the collapse of the building in Rana Plaza in Savar, she said, citing passage by the Cabinet of a labor law that will be sent to Parliament. Hasina noted that workplace disasters have occurred in the United States, too; she cited last month's explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, in which 14 people died. "Anywhere in the world, any accident can take place," she said. "You cannot predict anything." Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent, pointed out that local officials predicted that the building could collapse after cracks appeared on its walls on April 23, and they urged workers not to re-enter it. "You are very correct," Hasina said. "Unfortunately, in the morning, the owners of the factories put pressure to labor to enter." She praised government officials for trying to prevent the workers at the five garment factories in the building from re-entering it on April 24, the morning of the collapse. "It is not true that the government hasn't taken any steps," she said. She blamed the owners of the five factories as well as Sohel Rana, the building's owner, and disputed the suggestion that their political connections could protect them. Rana is under police investigation in relation to the deaths and has had his assets seized. Protesters have called for him to be hanged. "The law will take its own course," she said. "Criminal is criminal. They will get all the necessary action; that we can assure you. It is our promise to the people." Hasina added, "Any business person, if they commit any kind of crime, our government always takes action." She pointed to the companies that source their products from such factories, saying they should pay well enough that factory owners can pay good salaries and ensure the business is safely run. "They're partly responsible for it," she said. And she urged that the disaster be considered in context. "You cannot blame the whole business or whole industry just for one incident," she said. Hasina said officials in her government "are in favor of labor," having increased the minimum wage by 82%, built dormitories and seen to the health care needs of workers. She denied that the killing last year of a labor leader signified that her government is hostile toward unions. Aminul Islam's body, bearing signs of torture, was found four days after he disappeared in April 2012. "Nobody knew that he was a labor leader," she said. It was only after his body was found, she said, "that we came to know that he was a labor leader and he was assassinated." More than a year later, she said, the case remains under investigation. The interview was carried out via satellite by Amanpour in New York and the prime minister in Dhaka. CNN has been unable to gain visas from the Bangladeshi government that would allow the network to send reporters to cover the country first-hand. That assertion was corroborated by a CNN executive, but the prime minister disputed it. "It is not true," Hasina said. "We never stop any media to come to Bangladesh." Asked about restrictions on coverage imposed by the visa office, she said, "Every country has these rules and regulations." Thursday's interview came as activity resumed at thousands of Bangladeshi textile factories. Millions of workers in and around the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, returned to duty after the trade group that represents the garment industry decided it was safe to do so. This week, a delegation of the International Labour Organization arrived in Dhaka on a four-day visit to Bangladesh. "Horror and regret must translate into urgent firm action," said Guy Ryder, the organization's director-general. "Action now can prevent further tragedy. Inaction would mean that the next tragedy is simply a matter of time." The incident has provoked widespread protests, including attacks on some textile facilities the demonstrators said are unsafe. The garment industry accounts for 77% of Bangladesh's exports -- a $20 billion industry for the nation.

Disney pulls out of Bangladesh factories . Bangladesh now is good for investment, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says . She cites the formation of a committee to improve safety after a horrific building collapse . "The law will take its own course," Hasina says .

(CNN) -- When Tiffany Wilson noticed a small growth on her left hip, she didn't think much of it. Tiffany Wilson, 41, found a bump on her hip that she thought was a pimple. It turned out to be skin cancer. "It was bizarre," recalled the 41-year-old salon owner from Minneapolis, Minnesota. "I just thought it was a pimple." Wilson, who is African-American, can't say exactly what prompted her to point out the bump to her physician, but she said she remembered thinking the diagnosis wouldn't be anything serious. "It never occurred to me that it was skin cancer," she said. But it was. She had basal cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer. Wilson spent long hours as a child in the summer sun at Lake Nokomis in Minnesota and went to the tanning bed before visiting relatives in the Caribbean, she said. She also said she never wore sunscreen. "Back then, I just don't think people were aware of the effects [of the sun]," she said. Those may seem like obvious red flags to people who are sun-conscious, but they were foreign concepts to Wilson, which is why her diagnosis came as a shock. "I just assumed, 'I'm a person of color, I'll be OK,' " she said. Dermatologists say they are concerned because skin cancer rates are increasing among minority groups in the United States. Like Wilson, many people of color often mistakenly believe skin cancer is not something they should be worried about. Pigmentation is no 'free pass' The reasoning is not completely far-fetched: Darker-skinned people do benefit from the protective effects of skin pigmentation. In fact, some studies suggest that for the darkest skin tones, pigmentation cells provide a natural sun protection factor, or SPF, of about 13. The problem is many dark-skinned people believe that means they are born with a natural immunity to skin cancer. "Pigmentation doesn't give you a free pass," said Dr. Charles E. Crutchfield III, a dermatologist specializing in ethnic skin and the doctor who treated Tiffany Wilson. "It doesn't matter what color your skin is, everyone can get skin cancer." Bob Marley, for example, died of malignant melanoma, the most lethal type of skin cancer, that spread to his lungs and brain. All types of skin cancer are increasing among blacks and Hispanics, and their melanomas are more often fatal because they are usually caught later, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Crutchfield pointed out that pigmentation may have sun-protective qualities but even for the darkest skin it falls short of the AAD's recommendation of a daily SPF of at least 15 for everyone. Crutchfield feels many ethnic groups are missing that key part of the message, if they are getting the message at all. Blog: How to pick the right sunscreen . Researchers acknowledge that many of the messages regarding skin cancer prevention have traditionally targeted fair-skinned people, a group 10 times more likely to develop melanoma. Now, dermatologists say, more needs to be done to encourage all groups to take precautions against sun damage. A Consumer Reports survey found only 27 percent of people with self-described darker skin applied sunscreen when they were in the sun for four hours or more, compared with 64 percent of people with self-described light skin. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 there will be more than 1 million unreported cases of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer -- most of them curable -- and that more than 68,000 cases of melanoma will be diagnosed. For melanoma, the key to a cure is early detection. That's why dermatologists caution everyone to be vigilant and learn the risks for their skin type. "Race is very important because not all skin is the same," said Dr. Susan Taylor of The Skin of Color Center, a dermatology group focusing on the needs of patients of color. According to Taylor, people with darker skin often get diagnosed at later stages because the cancers often appear in atypical locations. Melanomas in African-Americans and darker-skinned Hispanics and Asians develop more commonly on the palms, soles of the feet, toenails, fingernails and in mucus membranes like around the mouth and genitals, she said. In Caucasian and lighter-skinned Hispanics, melanomas more frequently appear on the back in men and on the legs in women. Also, the signs of melanoma may vary depending on skin tone. "Skin hue can affect the way lesions look," Crutchfield said. "Things that appear red in white skin often look completely different in skin of color." Historically, research and teaching was done on fairer-skinned people, making it more challenging for physicians to recognize suspicious moles on darker skin. While these differences present challenges, they are certainly not barriers. Experts say, the best thing to do is keep it simple. "If you have any lesion or mole change at all, or if you have a spot that bleeds and doesn't heal in three weeks, see a physician or a dermatologist," Dr. Crutchfield recommended. "That's something everyone can do." Visit the American Academy of Dermatology Web site to find free screening locations in your state . Another piece of simple advice: "All racial groups need to use sunscreens," Taylor stresses. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends using a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against both deep-penetrating UVA rays and burn-causing UVB rays. Not all sunscreens protect against both. Visit the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep cosmetic safety database . Tiffany Wilson is heeding that advice. She said she's learned that when it comes to prevention, the worst thing you can possibly do is nothing. "I use extreme caution in the sun and make certain that I use a sunscreen, even on a cloudy day," she said. "You shouldn't underestimate the rays of the sun. "

Dermatologists report increased incidence of skin cancer among people of color . Minorities often believe pigmentation makes them immune to skin cancer . More than 1 million new cases of skin cancer are estimated in 2009 . Every 62 minutes, one American dies of melanoma .

(CNN) -- Annette Fredskov's recipe to alleviate the often crippling effects of multiple sclerosis is a curious concoction. It consists of one year, 366 marathons, 15,442 kilometers and 20 pairs of running shoes. "It's amazing because now I know I have a diagnosis, but I know I feel healthy and I am healthy, I have no disease," she told CNN's Human to Hero series. "I know my body now and I also listened to my body every day during the project, so I have no fear at all. It's amazing. "My muscles got stronger during the project and also my bones got stronger and my body found a balance, so I'm in good shape." It wasn't always this way, though. The Dane was diagnosed with MS three years ago. The disease -- which attacks the body's central nervous system -- has several forms, ranging in seriousness. Like 85 per cent of sufferers, Fredskov has relapsing remitting MS, which means symptoms can appear then fade away, either partially or completely. Initially, it enveloped the 41-year-old, prompting a six-month spell of introspection and fear. As well as numbness down her left side, she was also blighted with dizziness and extreme tiredness. "At one point I was really sad about that and I was feeling sorry for myself," Fredskov explained. "Some days were very hard and I thought, 'What am I going to do? I can't work, I'm so tired and I'm going to sit in a wheelchair.' "Other days I thought, 'Well, this is going to be OK, I'll handle it.' So I had six months on a rollercoaster ride, you could say. "Then I got my act together and I thought, 'I'm feeling sorry for myself and I'm sick and it's not the way I wanted things to be, but I can decide for myself what I am going to do from now.'" The outlet for this enduring commitment to vitality was running -- a whole lot of running. Having flirted with the sport at various stages of her life, Fredskov was a committed runner by the time her multiple sclerosis was confirmed. And it proved to be a valuable vehicle in her fight to remain physically and mentally fit. "The curiosity about our mind and our body is really a big motivation for me that started with my diagnosis," said Fredskov, who has written a book about her feats. "It's hard to explain what happened. Before I would run once in a while and I couldn't really get the hang of it, I didn't really enjoy it. But six years ago I was ready to fall in love with running." Even the most committed of athletes would surely tremble at the prospect of completing 26 miles every day for a whole year. But Fredskov says her decision was empowering, helping to reinforce her viewpoint that she could retain an important element of control over her disease. "A year after my first marathon, I was sitting in the car with my husband and thinking out loud, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if I could run a marathon every day for a year?!' "Instead of just letting it go or not answering he said, 'If anybody can do it, it would be you.' "So the dream was alive. We talked about it, it just felt right in both our stomachs. I wanted to run and he wanted to support me. I've learned that if there's anything I want to do, I can do it. "It's not every day I just jump out of bed and say, 'Wow, this is a happy day,' but I know if I wake up and feel my head is heavy, that I'm not feeling so good, I know I can make it a good day anyway -- that's my choice. "I can choose to be, 'Oh, tell everybody I'm not feeling so well,' or I can tell myself, 'No, I want to feel good and tell everybody I'm feeling good.' It's my choice. That's kind of a freedom." Even scrolling through the complete list of Fredskov's marathons on her website is exhausting. All of them were completed in Denmark, most around the town of Næstved. Unsurprisingly, Fredskov's very first marathon was her quickest, clocking in at four hours, 25 minutes and 30 seconds. She drank two liters of soda a day to keep her body infused with sugar, got through a pair of running shoes every 18 days, and maintained an average time of around five hours. "There were lonely moments, because I was the only one doing this," she explained. "Sometimes I just felt so tired and thought, 'Nobody knows what I'm feeling right now,' and that sometimes felt lonely. "Also when people told me, 'You can do this, try that,' and I thought you don't know what you're talking about because I'm the only one who has tried to run a marathon and it's hard -- I'm tired!" A glutton for punishment, Fredskov decided to run not one but two marathons on her 365th day, spending a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes pounding the roads. "When I got to the finish line, I had no words," she said. "It was overwhelming, my head was empty. The only thing going through my mind was thank you for everything. "I ran over the finish line and my kids and my husband were there ready to hug me, and Emilia and Victor they made a big sign saying, 'You are awesome mum!' "I just started crying -- it was the best day of my life. I have a lot of those but it's going into history." As you might have guessed, her marathon year isn't the limit of Fredskov's ambitions, and another assignment is already in the pipeline. "My next challenge in the running shoes is completing five marathons in 48 hours," she reports.

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Annette Fredskov ran 366 marathons in 365 days . The Dane says her grueling year helped ease the symptoms of her disease . The 41-year-old ran a total of 15,442 kilometers and got through 20 pairs of shoes . "My muscles and bones got stronger during the project," Fredskov tells CNN .

(CNN) -- The heady days of New York epitomized by Wall Street excess and rampant wealth may seem a far-flung memory, but the city still retains its buzz, its high-octane spirit that is the essence of its magical personality as a place where anything can happen. The original 24 hour city, but still the best? You can turn a trip to NYC into anything you want it to be. New York remains firmly in first place as the world's 24 hour city, with nearly anything accessible at any hour. There is a frustratingly vast number of sights to see, places to eat, shopping, partying and serious cultural gems dotted throughout the place. So many films, books, television shows and musicians have personified New York that it's hard not to feel you already know it before you arrive. While many of those stereotypes ring true, entering the city -- whether the first or twentieth time -- with an open mind will make each visit seem an adventure. At first, the glittering, noisy and even rude aspect of the city may send timid visitors running. Look below the surface and you may see more than just shimmering skyscrapers and neatly manicured inhabitants but a multifarious bunch of people somehow co-existing astonishing well within the city's grid structure. Despite their sometimes alarming candor, New Yorkers are as much a part of the city's entertainment as catching a Broadway show. A starting point for 24 hours in the city should begin with breakfast or brunch New York style: eggs (however you'd like) and some good strong coffee to charge you up for the day. Almost every corner of Manhattan has a local diner, otherwise head downtown to breakfast stalwarts Bubby's or Kitchenette in Tribeca, or more recent favorite New French in the West Village. Continue south to Lower Manhattan, with an excursion on the free, 25-minute (each way) Staten Island ferry. The views of downtown, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island give a closer glimpse of what it must have been like to arrive in the city as an immigrant in days past. Next head up to lively Chinatown to shop and bargain for knock-off designer handbags and various tat around Canal Street. If feeling peckish, have dim sum at New Green Bo Restaurant, known for its no-frills decor and delicious dumplings. Or continue on to Nolita (via Little Italy) to lunch at cool, low-key Café Gitane, or in SoHo at the beautiful French restaurant Balthazar (often a hangout of celebs). Shoppers will want to save time for the boutiques of Nolita and the higher-end designer shops in SoHo. If strolling is your thing, don't miss the opportunity to wander the leafy, village-like streets of the West Village. Loads of tiny boutiques (many of which have gone high-end in years past), inviting sidewalk cafes and the general laid-back style of the place seem the perfect antidote to otherwise hectic areas of town. Art enthusiasts should head straight to West Chelsea next, where there are enough galleries to spend several days. The Chelsea Gallery District is home to New York's contemporary art scene and sits over near the Hudson River, spanning several streets going north. Outdoor lovers will also be enticed to the West Chelsea neighborhood as the New York High Line is opening in June 2009. The former elevated railroad has been converted into a park including floating ponds, sundecks and lookout spots over the Hudson River and Manhattan. One of the city's most exciting recent projects, the public park will span 22 blocks (once it's all open in 2010), a huge accomplishment after many locals fought for years to turn it into green space. After a rest in the park, take in Midtown for its neck-wrenching skyscrapers. Admire the Chrysler Building, the city's homage to art deco, and gape up at the city's tallest building, the Empire State Building. Stop in Grand Central Terminal, taking note of its Beaux Arts beauty and its constellation-inspired ceiling, where you may have time to sneak a drink in the tucked away, wood-paneled Campbell Apartment bar. Then admire the nineteen buildings comprising Rockefeller Center, before glimpsing at St. Patrick's Cathedral across the street. (Shoppers beware: the temptations of Fifth Avenue shops and department stores may pull you off schedule here). If your feet can still keep up the pace, stroll up to Central Park, for a glimpse of New Yorkers oasis of green. A variety of activities in the park will amuse you, from sporty rollerbladers dancing around to the peaceful Conservatory Gardens where you can rest. Cultural buffs should head up the park's east side to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It could easily command several hours if not days, but if short on time choose one section. All nearby, the Frick Collection, Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum are each possible on their own in an hour or two. Time for a tea or coffee break? Visit the pretty Viennese Café Sabarsky inside the Neue Galerie, or stop in for a chi-chi cocktail at the Carlyle Hotel nearby. For a classic New York dining experience in an elegant setting, end the perfect New York day at Gramercy Tavern before retiring to a nearby bar for a nightcap. Otherwise, if a Broadway show is on the agenda, visit Times Square by night, taking in the dazzling lights and mayhem of New York's entertainment district. For cheap theater tickets, visit either the TKTS booth in Times Square at 47th Street and Broadway, or call ahead to the selected theater to see if last-minute "rush" tickets are available. Another option, head downtown to hear some jazz in Greenwich Village at the Village Vanguard or the Blue Note, or take in some drinks in one of many of New York's watering holes. A few favorites include Simone Martini Bar in the East Village, Sunita in the Lower East Side or Epistrophy in Nolita.

The original 24-hour city has plenty of offer for first- or tenth-time visitors . Fuel up for the day with a typical NYC breakfast and head to lower Manhattan . Mid-town sights and shopping can provide plenty to delight and distract . It remains an international city where you can make your own adventures .

(CNN) -- "The name's Bond, Commander Bond." Words uttered by the world's most famous secret agent who is adored by his country, feared by the bad guys and trained by Britain's Royal Navy. I have just spent three years with the Royal Navy and written the "Royal Navy Way of Leadership" commissioned by the Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy and issued to 15,000 personnel. I spent long spells at sea on all types of vessel; I followed officer training with the Surface Fleet and with the Royal Marines. Never have I found a more cheerful, consistent and yet flexible and innovative working environment. The Royal Navy is expert at planning, measuring and executing -- the key management disciplines; it does these things highly professionally as it moves throughout the 140 million square miles of the world's oceans. Here's the surprising thing: the Royal Navy runs on "soft skills" (and never on shouted orders). These are the qualities of character and culture that are remarkably resilient and, most importantly, instilled in all Royal Navy personnel. They understand the uses of commitment, loyalty, integrity, respect and cheerfulness in ways that the commercial and public sector can only dream of. Read more: Top business brains on success . What I learned is that when people gather together to achieve an end (excellence in military operations or in business for example), what gets things done is those soft skills. And where two groups attempt the same thing, the successful group will be the one whose leaders understand how to use those soft skills in motivating their people and maintaining their effort. The soft skills are pretty easy to identify and pretty hard to learn. They are a form of emotional intelligence. Produce a workplace with the soft skills, and your people will flourish. And remember that half the Royal Navy at any one time might be working in an office (even at sea or on land deployment), so their workplace is much more like yours or mine than you think. Take cheerfulness. Are you happy at work? Happy with what you are being told to do, or with what you are asking your people to do? Happy that your commitment and hard work are being nourished? Do you work for someone cheerful? Or are you happy to follow a pessimist? Read more: Neurotics at work aren't all bad . Here is the opportunity. There are over 1.5 million people employed in FTSE 250 companies in the UK; a further 13.8 million in small and medium-sized enterprises nearly three quarters of a million in London. All contain managers, whose job it is to do things right, and leaders, whose job it is to do the right thing. Improve leadership at work, and you improve the lives of over 15 million people. And in this current uncertain and fast-moving global environment, there is even more need for leadership of the right kind. Doing the right thing means three things: looking after your shareholders, looking after your customers, and looking after your people. And it's in the latter where leaders fail. They tend to lack the emotional intelligence, the subtlety of character to elicit the best from their people when times get tough. These are not matters for management but for leadership. So here is the take-home -- or better, take-to-work -- advice for leaders. This is military philosophy applied to everyday working life. First, develop soft skills and see how employees who are trusted, valued, respected and treated cheerfully actually begin to flourish and prosper. In a recession, if money is not the first reward, then improving the individual's relationship with work should be. Your people will achieve more with fewer resources. Second, figure out your ethos or culture -- "It's the way we do things around here." If you achieve this, then customer service becomes a reality rather than a hopeful promise; innovation is inculcated into the way everyone thinks all the time; honesty is not a matter of compliance but a matter of fact. Third, be clear in your thinking and you will be more efficient. The Royal Navy works with what the military call Mission Command, which sets out the intent, strategy, resources, contingency and inspiration for any large-scale activity (it actually derives from Nelson's order of battle set out a month before Trafalgar). The simplicity is compelling because it works. And it has been tested in all manner of fast, dangerous, uncertain and difficult conditions for hundreds of years. Read more: Army field doctors' team-building triage . How about when things go wrong? Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man up Everest, used to say that if you were in real trouble in a difficult place you needed an explorer called Ernest Shackleton, because he understood his people, knew how hard it was to lead well, and was prepared to do the right thing. Shackleton never lost a man in the Antarctic, despite being marooned there in 1915, because he understood his people, got them to make sacrifices for the common good, and earned their love and respect. The love and respect found in Shackleton's crew really count commercially. A Mercer survey in the U.S. last year found that half of U.S. employees were unhappy at work, and that a third were thinking of leaving their organization; even worse, 20% of U.S. workers were disgruntled and yet loath to move on. The declines in productivity from ignoring the soft skills are huge. Conversely, high-performing teams tend to have high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. They depend on shared culture, goals, and methods; which is precisely what makes the Royal Navy so good at getting things done. A survey by Aon Hewitt last year found that employee engagement must be over 67% if a company has any hope of success: the average UK level is 57% (the lowest since 2008). The soft skills that create happiness at work are not expensive to develop. Yet we know CEO tenure is short and therefore leadership/business culture -- the vital essence that carries continuity -- is suffering. It takes time to develop something worthwhile. Yet it is a formula understood instinctively by every navy captain, every galley chef, every officer of the watch. How people are at work affects how they work. The culture counts. If businesses can get this right, like the Royal Navy, it will be revolutionary. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andrew St George.

Royal Navy runs on soft skills more than shouted orders . Soft skills are easy to understand but hard to learn . Half of Royal Navy may be working in an office at any one time . Leaders and managers could learn much from navy's way of operating .

(CNN) -- Amid the whine of F3 engines and the clatter of pneumatic tools, 21-year-old Sun Zheng -- one of mainland China's small but growing pack of motor racing drivers -- considers his form for the next day's racing at the Macau Grand Prix. "My time wasn't very good and there were three corners we kept missing," he tells CNN from the relative calm of the Galaxy Double R Racing Team's catering tent. "If I solve those three corners, I'll be two seconds off the pace." As the first F3 racer from mainland China to enter the Macau fixture - roundly regarded as the sport's toughest training ground for Formula One drivers -- Zheng has a lot resting on his young shoulders. "Of course, all F3 drivers want to be F1 drivers and Macau is like doing college," he says, adding that his ambition is to become China's first F1 driver at a Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)-sanctioned event. "Most older drivers have done three or four years and then they graduate to F1. I hope I'll be first. I have driven in Formula Ones and nothing can compare with it -- it's in a different category," he says. As the reigning China Formula Grand Prix series champion, fourth place-getter in the final 2012 Audi R8 LMS Cup and this year's national champion in the British F3, Zheng has already shown the kind of form that could take him to the pinnacle of motor racing. At the moment, however, he needs all his concentration for Macau which he says is one of the most challenging circuits in the world. Even at the tender age of 21, he says the rigors of the track leave him exhausted at the end of the day's racing. "Physically I'm okay but mentally I'm very tired because you're not just driving the car - it's not like qualifying or practice -- when you race you have to try to overtake, you have to try to defend, you need to think about a lot of things in a very short space of time. "When you take risks, it's not like you can just do that blindly," he says. "You have to think, 'Okay well ... I have a 60-70% chance I'm going to go for it.'" As a street circuit, the concrete canyons of Macau's Guia Circuit can throw up some chilling moments, even for experienced drivers who take some corners at upwards of 240 kph (150 mph) on each lap. "You have to really push every corner and every lap during the race because the older drivers, the pace that they keep up is incredible," Zheng says. "They are preparing for Formula One races so they can't make mistakes -- they're not just fast on one lap, they're fast on every corner and every lap. "I have done endurance races where you have a lot of time to take a rest; you're not competing with the car next to you. But in F3, once you start, it's a fight to the end. "When I start, I take a breath when the right light goes off and I push and push until the checkered flag comes down and then I let that breath out -- it really does feel like that." With 15 laps at around two minutes a lap, 30 minutes might seem like a long time to hold your breath but, as Zheng explains, Macau is that kind of circuit. "On other tracks, there's a white line on both sides of the circuit -- if you take a short cut and your four wheels go over the white line, then that's a penalty," he says. "But in Macau, the white line is a wall -- not even two wheels can go over; it's really difficult." Double R Racing team manager Anthony Hieatt says his team has had some hair-raising moments at the Macau Grand Prix in the past. "Crashes? Oh God yeah. Massive crashes. Huge ones," says Hieatt amid the drone of the F3 garage. "This is the toughest circuit in the world bar none -- it's probably one of the longest circuits with 23 or 24 corners and parts of it are like putting cotton through a needle. The good drivers, he says, will always stand out. "Good experienced drivers are always up the front and new drivers are always at the back. New drivers need experience so they come back two or three times but if you do succeed at Macau, then all the Formula One people are watching -- it's a calling card for your career." His team currently holds the record for the highest speed ever attained at Macau at 182 mph (292 kph) which through the narrow historic streets of the former Portuguese colony is about as fast as it gets. "To put it in perspective, they don't reach those sorts of speeds at Monaco," says Hieatt, adding that intense concentration is fundamental to every driver's survival at Macau. "As soon as the driver feels they're safe, they're in the morgue," he says. While advances in the carbon fiber monocoque design have made the racers safer than they were 20, and even 10 years ago (F3 racers now fitted with thick panels that protect drivers from intrusions into the cockpit), the last thing a driver wants is 'to go in', says Hieatt using the pit vernacular for having a crash. "It's still a dangerous sport and it still hurts when you go in, but the cars are among the safest in the world." For Hieatt, F3 -- as the poor man's Formula One -- represents the real, gritty spirit of motor racing in its purest form. "Here we're dealing with raw talent," he says. "The F1 drivers always remember F3 because there's this fantastic bonding that goes on because they work with a small team. "In Formula One, the mechanics wouldn't even speak with the drivers, but here they eat, drink and sleep with the team. It's really the university of racing."

Sun Zheng is the first F3 racer from mainland China to enter the Macau Grand Prix . He aims to graduate to F1 racing to become first Chinese to compete internationally . Macau Grand Prix regarded as one of the toughest training grounds for future F1 drivers . The Galaxy Double R Racing Team holds the Macau speed record of 182 mph (292 kmh)

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The late Academy Award-winning composer Maurice Jarre enjoyed a glittering career composing the scores to many classic films. French composer Maurice Jarre wrote scores for films by Hollywood legends like John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean. Last month, the 84 year-old who died Sunday gave one of his final interviews to CNN's The Screening Room, in conversation with fellow composer Alexandre Desplat. Jarre, who died of cancer, worked with many legendary directors, like Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston. But it is the French composer's work with British director David Lean -- the scores to "Lawrence of Arabia," "Dr Zhivago," and "A Passage to India," for which he won three Oscars -- for which he is best remembered. Twice Oscar-nominated French composer Alexandre Desplat, who has written the scores for Stephen Frears' 2006 drama "The Queen," and last year's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," regarded Jarre as an inspiration and an influence. "Maurice was an immense artist; an incredible symphonist; a magician of the melody and a benevolent human being," Desplat told CNN in tribute to Jarre who he describes as the greatest composer of the last 50 years. Alexandre Desplat: I don't know if you know, but the path that you traced for us French composers is phenomenal and indispensable. And, of course, love for cinema and theater is something that unites us, because I also wrote a lot for the theater like yourself. Maurice Jarre: The love for cinema, that's correct. I also had the opportunity to work with real -- to use a common word -- 'giants.' Volker Schlöndorff , Visconti, John Huston ... AD: and Hitchcock! MJ: Hitchcock. This type of director has disappeared. They no longer exist. AD: One can sense with your work this passion for cinema, and for images -- your complete dedication to images. I think I also have this devotion, in fact, I don't think, I know, because it's devoured me since I was an adolescent. There are many composers of whom I know that are film composers by default, simply because it's a job; it's a good occupation. I don't sense in them that love for images, and that inspiration films has given us. MJ: People who say to me, 'When you write the music for a film do you know whether the film will be a great success?' I tell them, 'No, I was mainly concerned about finishing the music in time.' Sam Spiegel (producer of "Lawrence of Arabia) once said, 'You have a job like Superman!' That was true because I worked day and night. But, at that point, I had no idea I was working on probably one of the best films in the history of cinema. What is your favorite Maurice Jarre movie score? Tell us below in the SoundOff box . AD: This dedication to the cinema is all-encompassing. When one is a composer for films, it's day and night. One needs to be in great physical condition! MJ: Oh yes! [Jarre puts up fists, as though in a boxing match] Like an athlete... AD: I know that like me you must have worked 18 to 20 hours a day because there was no choice. Unless we are directing other people, having people work for us. In this case you'd probably have to do less. But as we're, I think, somewhat intelligent, and in love with details and in love with the timbre of the orchestration. MJ: That's why I was so disappointed that you lost the Oscar [Desplat was nominated for Best Score in 2006 for Stephen Frears' "The Queen."] The award is not that important, but it has sentimental value for you, because I respect your work. AD: I hope to one day achieve three Oscars like yourself Maurice. But you have to keep in mind that the rewards for the work are secondary. MJ: I was very disappointed with the people who won the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Composition last year. For me, it should represent the real best film scores outside of, let's say, political factors. Watch video: 'Zhivago' composer dies . AD: What's essential is to have extremely talented directors who listen to you. That's the best reward, because your talent as a composer can express itself. You can search, you can invent something. With films where the directors aren't so great, it's much more difficult to write good music. MJ: You know, before I wrote the first electronic score for Peter Weir, for "Year of Living Dangerously," nobody wanted to hear about a purely electronic score, but Peter Weir used it in an artistic manner. That's what was so great. AD: That is, for me, an example because after having done 70 or 80 film scores, I realize it is perhaps time for me to be careful not to repeat myself, and to find a new voice. I think that the path you took in the 1980s ... I find it extremely courageous to abandon the orchestra for electronic music. For me, it's an incredible example. What was for you, Maurice, the most beautiful experience, or the Oscar which you loved most? MJ: Of course, it's the first [for "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1963]. It's a sentimental one, because David Lean and I became good friends. With the good directors it was always an interesting experience -- and a difficult one -- because we always had slightly different visions at the outset. But, it always arranged itself. I never really had a 'bust-up' with a good director. A good director will always find an intellectual understanding. And that's what was great - I had an opportunity with all these people. I don't think I can say that I ever worked with a bad director. There were never any real problems; there were discussions ... a bit of diplomacy here and there.

Oscar-winning composer, Maurice Jarre wrote score for "Lawrence of Arabia" Jarre talks to CNN's The Screening Room in one of his final interviews . The director who died Sunday also worked with Hitchcock, and John Huston . He is in conversation Oscar-nominated composer, Alexandre Desplat .

(CNN) -- In describing one's relationship status, Facebook offers the option: "It's complicated." This sums up the relationship between Hispanic voters and the political parties. On the one hand, Hispanics are overwhelmingly more likely to connect with Democrats than with Republicans -- by nearly a 3-to-1 margin. A new survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit Washington-based research group, found that 56% of registered Hispanic voters identified with Democrats, 19% identified with Republicans, and 19% with Independents. In the survey, more than 6 in 10 Hispanics said they felt close to the Democratic Party, while only 3 in 10 said that about the Republican Party. When Hispanics were asked to describe the parties, 48% of the responses about Republicans were negative words like "intolerant" or "out of touch," while just 22% of the responses about Democrats were negative. In the 20th century, the Democratic Party was home to working-class ethnic groups (Polish, Irish, Italian, etc.) who saw Republicans as the party of the rich. Today, it is the go-to place for Latinos who feel picked on by the GOP. Yet for Republicans, all is not lost. Hispanic voters have demonstrated they can think for themselves. When choosing candidates, they will often put the person before the party. And so they've been known to throw their support behind Republicans who take moderate stances on immigration and eschew the GOP's tendency to turn the already contentious debate into an ugly culture war where immigrants are often portrayed as inferior to the native-born. It worked for President Ronald Reagan and former Sen. John Tower of Texas, both of whom took Hispanic outreach seriously and invested the resources to attract Hispanic support. Other Republicans who, at various times in their careers, earned substantial Latino support -- i.e., more than 30% of the vote -- include Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Arizona Gov. Jane Hull, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and, of course, former President George W. Bush. Most Latinos don't change their political affiliation. They're notoriously brand loyal. Even when they flirt with a Republican candidate, they go home to the Democratic Party. President Obama got an impressive 71% of the Latino vote in the 2012 election. But even that part of the story is complicated. In August, a Gallup Poll found that -- when one looks at Obama's job approval rating -- there is a huge swing, among Latinos, from one quarter to the next. Obama's support among Latinos is a mile wide and an inch deep. One thing you hear a lot of in Latino circles is that many of these voters, in picking Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney, chose the "lesser of two evils." In a recent interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, Romney said the biggest strategic error of his campaign was "not investing sufficiently, particularly in Hispanic TV and Hispanic outreach to help Hispanic voters understand that ours is the party of opportunity." He also insisted that his message didn't get out. "I think my position and the position of our party is not well understood at the Hispanic community," Romney said. I think Hispanics understood what Romney was selling. They just weren't buying. Be that as it may, now that Romney is not in the picture, many Latinos are not shy about expressing their view that Obama hasn't been in their corner, and nor are they on his radar. Latino voters can really shake things up if the Republican candidate is smart about pursuing them. According to polls, the number of Latinos who identify themselves as being on the far left is quite small. In an August 2012 survey, the Pew Hispanic Center found that only 30% of Hispanics consider themselves "liberal" while 63% chose either "moderate" or "conservative." Yet, one area where neither party has been very smart is with regard to the critical issue of immigration. One reason that Latinos are increasingly ambivalent about Obama and the Democrats is that, under this administration, the number of deportations of undocumented immigrants is on track to reach 2 million in 2014. Meanwhile, many Republicans remain stubbornly opposed to giving the undocumented an earned pathway to legal status and pander to nativists by stirring up anxiety over the country's changing demographics. It's true that Latinos care about other issues more than immigration. In fact, the top three issues of concern for Latino voters are usually jobs/the economy, education and health care. But immigration is also a defining issue, a litmus test that tells them whether they can trust a given candidate or a party to deal with them fairly and honestly when it comes to other issues. Those issues now include the government shutdown over Obamacare. Although both parties are very clearly at fault, polls show that most of the blame for this debacle is going to Republicans. A majority of Latinos support Obamacare, so they're not going to look fondly on the GOP for gumming up the works to protest a program that Latinos support anyway. It's a little early to tell what the fallout will be but it might be that the shutdown only serves to further tarnish the Republican brand in the Latino community. The GOP was already in a hole with Latino voters, and it may have just gotten a little deeper. Still, it's also entirely possible that Latinos will wind up doing on the shutdown what they're doing on the stalemate over immigration reform and spread the blame to both parties. No matter how daunting the challenge, Republicans mustn't give up on attracting Latino support. Stranger things have happened. But they need to change their game plan, holster the intolerance, and start approaching those voters with something that they're not getting much of from either party: honesty and respect. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette.

A survey shows that Hispanics connect more with Democrats than Republicans . Ruben Navarrette: Republicans mustn't give up on attracting Latino support . He says most Latinos support Obamacare, so shutdown is a disservice to GOP . Navarrette: If Republican candidates pursue Latino voters, they can win them over .

(CNN) -- "The Lone Ranger" is expected to be one of the biggest movies of the summer; it opens over the long Fourth of July weekend, and the promotional buildup is in high gear. There will be much discussion about how the top-ranking box-office star in the movie, Johnny Depp, portrays not the Lone Ranger, but Tonto. The title role is being played by Armie Hammer, an actor not as familiar to audiences around the world. The most interesting thing about the movie, though -- and potentially the most heartening thing -- will be if it manages to bring back into American life the greatest single aspect of the old "Lone Ranger" television show. Not the "Hi-Yo Silver, away!" cry of the Lone Ranger, although that was always a thrill to see and hear. Not Silver himself, although the white stallion was a majestic and beautiful horse. Not the "William Tell Overture," although few pieces of music have ever been so inextricably linked to a fictional hero. It will be fine and fitting if the producers and director of the new "Lone Ranger" include all of those things in the film. But the real service they will be providing to the country is if they have had the good judgment to emphasize the best lesson the Lone Ranger taught. It came at the end of every half-hour television episode. The Lone Ranger -- played by the incomparable Clayton Moore -- would have finished doing laudable deeds and fighting injustice in whatever Western town to which that week's plot had taken him and Tonto. Goodness had prevailed. One of the local citizens would turn to thank the Lone Ranger for what he had done -- to tell him how grateful the town was. But the Lone Ranger would be gone. He would already have ridden away astride Silver. In the national memory, the townsman or townswoman would always say: . "Who was that masked man?" In reality, the exact words would vary from episode to episode. Sometimes the person would say: "He never even told us his name." Sometimes it would be: "But I never got a chance to thank him -- who was that man?" However the question was phrased, the answer was unfailingly some version of: . "You don't know who that was? Well, that was ... the Lone Ranger!" Cue William Tell. And the unspoken lesson -- one very much out of fashion today -- was: . Let your deeds stand for themselves. Don't blow your own horn; don't seek credit or applause. If you do something well, there's no need to tell people about it, or hang around waiting for cheers. Do good, and then get out. Don't trawl for gratitude. Resist curtain calls. Legends grow largest in absentia. Those verities seem to have been steamrollered into oblivion in our culture, in which people appear to believe that each new smidgeon of personal achievement must instantly be shared with the world via every social network or public microphone available. The Lone Ranger had no interest in being present when, belatedly, the people he had helped figured out just what a fine job he had done; it's hard to imagine him riding away from the town, pulling Silver to a halt in some canyon, and sending word to his Facebook friends that he had saved the day once again. But if he were around in the 21st century, where the unofficial theme song is "There's No Aggrandizement Like Self-Aggrandizement," his reticence would make him seem like an outcast, at odds with the tenor of the times. "The Lone Ranger" television series ran from 1949 until 1957, and stayed on the air in reruns for decades. If there was anyone bigger and more admired than the Lone Ranger in the years when the TV show originally was seen, it was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was then serving as president of the United States. Eisenhower was a person who instinctively understood the Lone Ranger ethos -- he knew that if a man has done his work well enough, he doesn't have to proclaim it. While in the White House, he wrote a letter to a friend in which he lamented that "some people tend to confuse facility of expression with wisdom; a love of the limelight with depth of perception." There was no such thing as Twitter when Ike was alive, but if there had been, you kind of sense that he never would have tweeted: "Just led the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Boo-ya!" Clayton Moore died at age 85 in 1999; he had some heartache after the television series went off the air. He enjoyed making public appearances as the Lone Ranger, telling stories to children and their parents. But in 1981, a California movie producer made a new "Lone Ranger" film starring someone named Klinton Spilsbury. The producer and his take-no-prisoners lawyers went relentlessly after Clayton Moore, telling him that he could no longer wear the Lone Ranger mask in public, threatening him with harsh and dire legal sanctions. I had gotten to know Moore late in his life; he was quietly crushed by the disdain with which he was being treated. He told me that the entertainment-industry lawyer going after him "told me again and again that I was too old to be the Lone Ranger. He told me that he was going to get an injunction against me ever appearing as the Lone Ranger again, and he said that I could expect to see a marshal at my door to deliver the injunction. I felt afraid and desperate. "I can't tell you how hurt I was. I'm a gentleman, though, and I walked out as a gentleman would walk out -- as a gentleman." You can only hope that once the door closed, the lawyer was chastened enough to sit there at the conference table for a moment and ask himself: . Who was that masked man? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.

New movie "The Lone Ranger" will come out this summer, styled after the old TV show . Bob Greene: The Lone Ranger saved the day and left, not bragging or expecting accolades . Greene: The message: Deeds stand for themselves. Don't blow your own horn . Unlike today, Green says, he would never have tweeted out his fight against justice .

Washington (CNN) -- The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA officers and contractors and a Jordanian intelligence official in Afghanistan was within seconds of being searched by two security contractors when he detonated his explosives, a former intelligence official with knowledge of the incident told CNN on Tuesday. On December 30, the two American guards, who worked for Xe Services -- formerly Blackwater USA -- approached the passenger side of the red 4-door sedan where bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi was sitting, the official said. Al-Balawi had been invited to the base to share information he claimed to have that would lead the United States directly to Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command. The sedan was waved through the normal security checkpoints to get onto the base, and pulled up just outside a one-story building -- a temporary space that was being used to interrogate people brought onto base. Several CIA officers and contractors were standing on the driver's side of the car, opposite al-Balawi, and others were standing as far as 50 feet away, a U.S. intelligence official said. Al-Balawi started to get out of the car, with one hand in his pocket, when he detonated the explosives, the source said. "It was no accident that some of the CIA officers were standing on the opposite side," the former intelligence official said. The official observed it was the safest place to be, as "they waited for the Xe guys to do what they're paid to do and frisk him." Also, there could have been some cultural sensitivity, with an Arab man about to be searched in front of female CIA officers who were there. The official says that "there was no point going up to him until after the guards had patted him down." Some of these details were first reported in The Washington Post earlier this week. The official expressed surprise at how much shrapnel tore through the area, killing seven CIA officers and contractors -- including the two Xe Services guards -- as well as a Jordanian intelligence official. Former CIA Agent Jack Rice told CNN that frequently, suicide bombers' explosive vests are wrapped in "things like nuts and bolts and ball bearings. "So what you create is this massive amount of shrapnel that kills everybody in the entire area," he said. Rice, who just returned from Afghanistan, said it was unusual to have so many officers present for a debriefing, but if they believed al-Balawi's claims that he had direct links to al Qaeda's top leadership, the excitement on the base would have been high. "Remember, this is a career opportunity for all of these people. If you could take down al-Zawahiri, if you could take down Osama bin Laden, you are a hero for the rest of your career. Everybody wants to be in the room," Rice said. Al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor, was a promising potential source. U.S. and Jordanian intelligence agencies apparently believed he was a reformed extremist and were using him to hunt al-Zawahiri. Al-Balawi had provided photographic evidence that helped establish his credibility, a U.S. intelligence official said. There were other things that also helped determine his authenticity, the official added, but would provide no further details. The former intelligence official who spoke anonymously has been to Forward Operating Base Chapman, where the attack occurred, and said body armor was worn even within the base's inner perimeter, which is unusual, compared with military bases in Kabul or Kandahar. "You have a real sense of the proximity to the Pakistan border. Perimeters don't have the same meaning," the official said. While saying that a mistake was made by not searching al-Balawi before he got into the red car, the official defended the officers' decision to bring him on base. "There's nowhere to frisk someone outside, and you don't have a whole lot of options. Let's assume they did have a safe house -- the exact same thing would have happened there," the official said. In a rare public defense of the CIA officers' actions, CIA Director Leon Panetta said the officers did not ignore the potential dangers because of the potential for valuable information. "This was not a question of trusting a potential intelligence asset, even one who had provided information that we could verify independently. It is never that simple, and no one ignored the hazards," Panetta wrote in an op-ed this weekend in The Washington Post. "The individual was about to be searched by our security officers -- a distance away from other intelligence personnel -- when he set off his explosives." The official says the attack not only sheds light on the dangerous work CIA officials and contractors do in Afghanistan, but how their footprint is growing. FOB Chapman was used to conduct operations back and forth across the Pakistan border. But the official says it is just "one of many bases in Afghanistan" that operate outside U.S. military or NATO command. Afghan contractors guard the outer perimeter of many of the bases. "Back in 2005, the CIA worked up an entire plan on how to increase its presence in Afghanistan," the official said. This effort was pursued "very aggressively" through the last several years of the Bush administration, and the official believed President Obama would have been briefed on that when he took office. The official says the feeling in the intelligence community is that Obama has increased the frequency and intensity of aggressive actions around the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region. Since he took office, the United States has ramped up the use of pilotless drones to strike at al Qaeda targets in Pakistan, including at least seven strikes since the December 30 attack at FOB Chapman, and approximately 51 others previously in 2009. In 2008, the last year of President George W. Bush's administration, there were approximately 34 drone strikes. "I've seen no evidence that he's [Obama] diminished in any way the strategy of the previous administration. In fact, President Obama has not only continued what President Bush started, he's built on it," the official said. CNN Intelligence Producer Pam Benson and Pentagon Supervising Producer Adam Levine contributed to this report.

Bomber was invited to base to share information on al Qaeda's second in command . He detonated explosives as he left car, former intelligence official says . Official: Bomber should've been searched before he got into car; bringing him on base was right . Attack shows CIA expansion in Afghanistan, risk to officials, contractors, official says .

(CNN) -- Standing atop a craggy, coastal outcrop on the outskirts of Reykjavik, Helgi Sveinsson checks his footing before adopting a statuesque pose reminiscent of a Nordic warrior. With chest puffed out and a javelin at his side, the 35-year-old's stance has a classical feel, but with a distinctly modern twist. In the dying light of a frigid November day in the Icelandic capital, the jagged silhouette of a carbon fiber running blade can be made out before its tip trails into the inky murk beneath. The prosthetic limb has helped Sveinsson become one of the most successful para-athletes of recent times propelling him to the top of the podium in the javelin over the last two seasons. At the 2013 world championships in Lyon, France, he took gold and repeated the feat earlier this year at the European Championships with a winning throw of 50.74 meters competing in the F42 class -- a category for athletes who have suffered amputations above the knee. "I just love everything about the javelin," Sveinsson told CNN's Human to Hero series. "It's just the feeling when you hit the sweet spot -- when you're throwing a perfect throw, there's nothing that compares to that ... it's the perfect feeling." Like most Paralympic competitors, Sveinsson has had plenty thrown at him during his life. A talented handball player in his youth, Sveinsson looked to be heading for the professional ranks when, on the cusp of adulthood, his life took an abrupt and tragic turn. "I was 18 years old when I started feeling little bits of pain in my leg. And then the pain got worse, and worse, and worse," he explains. A period of agonizing limbo involving hospital visits, tests and scans came to a horrifying conclusion with a diagnosis of bone cancer. He embarked upon a course of chemotherapy but after five months of treatment the tumor showed no signs of shrinking and the decision was made to amputate his left leg above the knee in 1999. He was 19 years old. "I just thought to myself: 'now the professional sports dream that I have is out the window.' So I had to do something else," he says. Sveinsson exchanged the fast-paced action of the handball court for more gentle pursuits like golf and fishing. Understandably, given his circumstances, he lost interest in keeping fit and piled on the pounds during his 20s. But when he took a job in R&D at the Icelandic prosthetics company Ossur in 2009, it wasn't long before his competitive spark was reignited and his sporting career resumed with a flourish. Based in Reykjavik, Ossur has forged a global reputation as a leading manufacturer and developer of prosthetic knees, legs and feet. Their carbon fiber running blades were famously worn by the Paralympian Oscar Pistorius and dozens of other para-athletes around the world use their equipment today. "Ossur has been my inspiration for the things I am doing today. To be able to be around and talk to the biggest names in Paralympic sports made me want to do it. I have a lot to thank them for," he said. "To be able to run again at the level I am doing, it's just unbelievable. This is one of the best inventions ever," he says pointing down to his carbon fiber blade. At first, Sveinsson used it exclusively for sprinting, competing in the 100m, before also taking up the long jump, but his true calling came a little later, more by happy accident than choice. "I was warming up for the long jump and I saw a javelin lying on the grass. So I picked it up, tried one throw and that was my thing. The old handball shoulder was back," he said, noting the similarity in the throwing techniques of the two sports. "It's pretty much the same rhythm. In the javelin, you (have a) fast approach until you stop and throw and it's just the same thing in handball." His first ever throw surpassed the European championship qualifying standard by six meters, and he currently has a personal best of 51.83 meters -- just under a meter off the world record held by Danish thrower Jakob Mathiasen. It's a distance that's well within his reach, the Icelander reckons. "I've been doing this almost three years and I've got so much inside that I want to get out before I stop. I want to be the first amputee to throw over 60m," he says. At this time of year, particularly in Iceland's long, drawn out winters, it's more about knuckling down to training than record attempts with Sveinsson focusing on his technique and keeping the body strong. "You have to train every single muscle in your body to be able to cope with what you are doing. I am amputated on the left side ... so I have to train that little bit harder to make these muscle groups a little bit stronger." Next year promises to be another banner year with Sveinsson looking to defend his world crown in Doha, Qatar. But 2016 is already on his mind when Rio de Janeiro will host the 15th Parlympic Games. "My future dreams are to make the grand slam -- to be world champion, European champion and Olympic champion. "I want to be the best, always. There's nothing else that I'm thinking about. I want to be the guy that everyone wants to beat. That's my goal." Whatever the future holds, Sveinsson hopes to continue being the living embodiment of his life motto. "Never give up," he says. "You can always do something." Read more: Meet Vietnam's martial arts missionary . Read more: Surf queen helps women wave rights .

Icelandic javelin star overcomes amputation to become leading para-athlete . Helgi Sveinsson a promising handball player before developing bone cancer in leg . Left leg amputated above knee in 1999; sports career revitalized by job at prosthetic firm . Icelandic-based Ossur provided running blades for South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius .

ST. POELTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A verdict in the case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man accused of keeping his daughter in a cellar for decades and fathering her seven children, could come as early as Thursday, a court official told reporters Monday. Josef Fritzl expects to spend the rest of his life in prison, his attorney has said. As his trial began behind closed doors Monday Fritzl pleaded guilty to incest and other charges, but denied charges of murder and enslavement -- the most serious charges against him. He pleaded "Partly guilty" to multiple charges of rape, but did not elaborate. "Partly guilty" is a plea option in Austrian courts. Franz Cutka, a spokesman for the Landesgericht St. Poelten court, said the "partly guilty" plea might mean that Fritzl contends he is not guilty of all the individual rape charges or that the violence used was not as severe as rape. Cutka was not in court for the plea and does not speak for the defendant. Fritzl's attorney was not immediately available to explain what he meant. Fritzl arrived at the courthouse in St. Poelten covering his face with a blue binder to shield himself from reporters, television cameras and photographers and escorted by a phalanx of police officers. Watch Fritzl arrive in court » . Fritzl faces six charges at a closed-door trial in St. Poelten, 45 miles (70 km) east of Amstetten, where Fritzl lived. Cameras were removed from the court . The trial is scheduled to last five days, but his attorney Rudolph Mayer said it could be shorter. Fritzl was charged in November with incest and the repeated rape of his daughter, Elisabeth, over a 24-year period. But he was also charged with the murder of one of the children he fathered with her, an infant who died soon after birth. State Prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek said Michael Fritzl died from lack of medical care. In an opening statement, prosecuting attorney Christiane Burkheiser handed damp-smelling items from the cellar where Elisabeth and her children had lived to jurors to give them an idea of the conditions in which they were allegedly locked up. In all, Fritzl is charged with: murder, involvement in slave trade (slavery), rape, incest, assault and deprivation of liberty, Sedlacek's office said. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of murder. Mayer said Sunday that Fritzl expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. "This man obviously led a double life for 24 years. He had a wife and had seven kids with her. And then he had another family with his daughter, fathered another seven children with her," said Franz Polzer, a police officer in Amstetten, the town where Fritzl lived, at the time of his arrest. The case first came to light in April 2008 when Elisabeth's daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill with convulsions. Elisabeth persuaded her father to allow Kerstin, then 19, to be taken to a hospital for treatment. Hospital staff became suspicious of the case and alerted police, who discovered the family members in the cellar. Fritzl confessed to police that he raped his daughter, kept her and their children in captivity and burned the body of the dead infant in an oven in the house. Elisabeth told police the infant was one of twins who died a few days after birth. When Elisabeth gained her freedom, she told police her father began sexually abusing her at age 11. On August 8, 1984, she told police, her father enticed her into the basement, where he drugged her, put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room. Fritzl explained Elisabeth's disappearance in 1984 by saying the girl, who was then 18, had run away from home. He backed up the story with letters he forced Elisabeth to write. Elisabeth Fritzl and all but three of her children lived in the specially designed cellar beneath her father's home in Amstetten, Austria, west of Vienna. The other three children lived upstairs with Fritzl and his wife; Fritzl had left them on his own doorstep, pretending the missing Elisabeth had dropped them off. Under Austrian law, if Fritzl is convicted on several offenses, he will be given the sentence linked to the worst crime. The charges he faces are: . • Murder: The infant who died in 1996 died from a lack of medical care, the state prosecutor said. The charge carries a sentence of life in prison. • Involvement in slave trade: From 1984 until 2008, prosecutors allege, Fritzl held his daughter, Elisabeth, captive in a dungeon, abused her sexually and treated her as if she were his personal property -- in a situation similar to slavery. If he is convicted, the sentence could range from 10 to 20 years in prison. • Rape: Between August 30, 1984, and June 30, 1989, Fritzl "regularly sexually abused Elisabeth," according to the prosecutor. The sentence could be from five to 15 years in prison. • Incest: Parallel to the rape charge. It carries a sentence of up to one year. • Withdrawal of liberty: Three of the children Fritzl had with Elisabeth were illegally held captive in a dungeon with no daylight or fresh air, according to prosecutors. That charge carries a sentence of one to 10 years. • Assault: Between August 28, 1984, and April 26, 2006, Fritzl repeatedly threatened Elisabeth and their three children with gas and booby traps as warnings in case they tried to escape, authorities allege. The sentence would range from six months to five years. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.

Friztl pleads guilty to imprisonment, incest denies murder, enslavement . Fritzl answers "partly guilty" when asked his response to rape charge . Austrian accused of keeping daughter in cellar for decades, fathering her 7 children . Verdict could come as early as Thursday, court official says .

(CNN) -- In just over a day, rebels seized the Central African Republic's capital, forced the president out of the country and declared the nation had "opened a new page in its history." But no one knows what the next page will say. Michel Djotodia, the leader of the rebel alliance, the Seleka, declared himself the new president, and the rebel group says their takeover opens a path for peace and democracy. Yet questions abound over the future of impoverished, landlocked country -- and what this uprising means for its 5.1 million residents. Where is the Central African Republic? The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation in the center of the continent, slightly smaller than Texas. It is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A former French colony, it gained independence in August 1960. Its 5.1 million residents include various ethnic groups who speak several languages. Even though French is the official language, Sango is the primary one. What has been its form of government? For the first 30 years, the country was ruled mostly by military governments. Civilian rule was established in 1993 but lasted only 10 years, according to the CIA World Factbook. In March 2003, then-president Ange-Felix Patasse was deposed in a coup led by Gen. Francois Bozize. Bozize is now in Cameroon, from which he is seeking to move to another country, the Cameroon government said in a communique dated Monday. The statement said that despite his presence, the country shall adhere to a policy of non-intervention. How long was Bozize in power? Two years after he took over in a coup, Bozize called elections in 2005 -- which he won. In 2011, he was re-elected, but activists said the polling was marred by fraud. When did the rebellion start? From the beginning, Bozize did not have full control of the nation. Rebel groups operated, particularly in rural areas. In December 2012, several of the rebel groups banded together, calling themselves the Seleka, or "coalition" in the Sango language. They accused Bozize of reneging on a peace deal and demanded that he step down. Slowly, the rebels began taking over parts of the country. Didn't the two sides strike a new peace deal? Yes, Bozize and the Seleka brokered a peace deal in January, agreeing to form a unity government led by Bozize. But that deal also fell apart. What do the rebels want? Some say the Seleka want a greater opposition presence in the country's government after Bozize's presidential election wins were met with fraud allegations. But others say greed is a factor. Only 3.1% of the land is arable, but the country has an array of natural resources, including diamonds, gold and timber. "Government officials from Bangui have accused Seleka of harboring 'foreign provocateurs' greedy for the country's vast mineral wealth, and there are suspicions that nationals from Chad, Nigeria, and Sudan also make up Seleka's ranks," African studies doctoral candidate Jason Warner wrote in a piece for CNN. How did the rebels take over the capital? For weeks, the Seleka rebel coalition pushed its way from its base in the north toward the capital city of Bangui, seizing towns along the way. Their efforts took a pivotal turn on March 24, when they infiltrated the capital. Witnesses reported hours of fierce gunfire in the city, and a government official said seven civilians were killed. Before he ended up in Cameroon, Bozize had crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo by the end of the day, said Jules Gautier Ngbapo, a government spokesman. And the rebels issued a bold message: . "The Central African Republic has just opened a new page in its history," said a written statement from Justin Kombo Moustapha, secretary general of the Seleka rebels. The statement described Bozize as the country's former president and urged residents to remain calm and prepare themselves to welcome rebel forces. Why were South African soldiers in the country? South Africa sent 200 troops to the country in January to work with the military there to quash the rebellion. During the rebel advance, 13 South African soldiers were killed and 27 wounded, the South African president's office said. One soldier was unaccounted for. What is likely to happen next? That's what world leaders are scrambling to figure out. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the "unconstitutional seizure of power," echoing the African Union's dismay over the rebels' offensive. Ban's office said the United Nations will continue working with the African Union and the Economic Community of Central African States to find a solution. Rebel leader Djotodia declared himself the new president, and the rebel alliance said democratic elections will take place after three years. "A new page is opening for peace and democracy in the CAR," Francois Nelson N'Djadder, a rebel spokesman, wrote. "Bozize being gone, the Central Africans must gather around the table to talk and find a common path which will ... lead to the organization of democratic elections." What other challenges does the Central African Republic face? Despite its richness of natural resources, the country is stymied by a landlocked position, a poor transportation system, a largely unskilled work force and a legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies, the CIA's World Factbook said. Its per-capita GDP -- the country's economic output divided by the population -- is just $800, putting the country in 222nd place out of 228 countries. And more than one in 25 adults are afflicted with HIV or AIDS. READ MORE: Central African Republic president flees capital amid violence, official says . CNN's Elwyn Lopez, Nana Karikari-apau and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

NEW: Bozize is now in Cameroon, that government confirms . Rebel leader Michel Djotodia declares himself new president . One rebel says democratic elections are on the horizon . Rebels tell civilians to remain calm and prepare to welcome rebel forces .

(CNN) -- In much of the northeastern quadrant of the United States, the past few days have seen the coldest weather in about 20 years. The Midwestern lows have been dangerously, frighteningly low. Near the coast, the weather is slightly less cold, but wilder. At 7 yesterday morning, the temperature outside here in New York City was 53 degrees Fahrenheit. This morning as I write, it's 4 degrees -- that's 49 degrees different. The numbers are indeed extreme. But in a larger sense, the current situation in the atmosphere is the norm -- just more so. Most of the United States lies in the midlatitudes. That means, between the tropics and the pole. We get our weather from both directions. Cold arctic air and hot tropical air can't easily mix together to make lukewarm air, because the earth's rotation deflects them sideways. The result is the jet stream, a very fast air current that blows from west to east at about the altitude (coincidentally) that jet planes fly, along the top of the boundary separating warm from cold. (Sometimes our Northern Hemisphere weather maps show two jet streams, one north of the other. The northern one makes a loop around the pole with the coldest air inside. This cold air mass with the jet around it is what is being called the "polar vortex" in recent media stories.) But the cold and warm air can't stay apart forever. The jet undulates, forming giant loops and eddies the size of one or more American states. These are high- and low-pressure systems. They stir the atmosphere around on a giant scale. They can move the air north or south fast enough that it brings some of the climate of the latitude from which it came. Warm moist air coming north ahead of low pressure swirls around cold air plunging south behind it. Where they meet at the ground, temperature contrasts sharpen yet further as cold and warm are squeezed together along fronts. This is the normal state of affairs here in the midlatitudes. Our weather is always a study in contrasts, especially in winter. It's just a more extreme contrast right now -- the jet is more distorted, the cold air plunging down harder against the warm. To be fair, one could say that any severe weather event is just an extreme case of normal weather. In a cosmic sense, Typhoon Haiyan or Superstorm Sandy were also just examples of the atmosphere going about its rounds. It's when the extremes happen to strike people that we have a disaster -- and this cold event, too, is having serious consequences. The difference is that Haiyan and Sandy produced conditions that were extreme by the standards of anywhere on earth. These low temperatures, on the other hand, are normal for the Arctic Circle. What makes this event extreme is not that the cold air exists at all, just that it's roaming a little farther than usual. Why did it happen? With single weather events, as with single stock market fluctuations or single football scores, we can find proximate causes -- things that happened just before that seemed to cause the event. We often can't go beyond that, and not just because our abilities are limited. The atmosphere is inherently chaotic and unpredictable, to the point that larger causes for single events really can't be ascribed meaningfully. And, of course, the weather will change again quickly. But there can be larger causes for gradual changes in the probabilities that certain types of events will occur. Global warming is one such larger cause. Of course, the cold snap which the current jet distortions have brought us doesn't contradict the fact of warming. It's the exception that proves the rule. This is the coldest weather in about 20 years. But it has happened before, and cold weather is happening less often overall. As stated in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it is "virtually certain" that daily minimum temperatures (as well as daily maximum temperatures) over land have increased since 1950. Globally, 2013 saw the warmest November in recorded history, and in recent times high-temperature records have been repeatedly broken much more often than low-temperature records. But low-temperature records will still fall sometimes -- when the jet's wiggles happen to bring cold polar air to somewhere farther south than usual, or bring it faster than usual, before the sun can warm it. Some scientists argue, in fact, that global warming may actually cause this to occur more often. The argument goes like this: A basic feature of global warming is that we expect the poles to warm more than the lower latitudes. Indeed, the North Pole is observed to be warming faster than anywhere else, melting sea ice. (This much is indisputable.) Since our cold snaps are just deliveries of polar air, we might expect them to get less cold. Most of the time they do, hence long-term warming. But because the overall midlatitude temperature contrast has weakened, the jet stream weakens with it. The weakened jet, the argument goes, starts to wobble and meander even more than before. The deliveries of cold air can come faster, or from farther north, than they used to on these bigger meanders. This can overcompensate, at times, for the overall warming. This argument has been strongly questioned by other scientists, including myself. It is certainly counterintuitive, in that it implies that weaker temperature contrasts globally cause stronger temperature contrasts locally. I don't think the research to date justifies such a conclusion. But the research on both sides is all still new and hotly debated. Events like the current one highlight some of what we still don't understand about the relationship of long-term climate changes to short-term extreme weather. We do understand the basics, though. On average, the high temperatures are getting higher, and the lows are getting higher too. Global warming is as real and serious as ever, it's just exceedingly gradual compared with the dramatic temperature swings that are still part of living in midlatitudes in winter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Adam Sobel.

Adam Sobel: We've seen coldest weather in about 20 years in much of the U.S. He says the fluctuations of normal winter weather patterns are to blame . Sobel: The effects of global warming are seen in more frequent high temperatures . Global warming is real and serious, but it's more gradual than seasonal shifts in climate, he says .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- As a medical student six years ago, Benjamin LaBrot would travel to remote areas of Africa and treat patients with supplies he could carry in his backpack. But one time, while treating Maasai villagers in Tanzania, LaBrot's supplies ran out. He was devastated. "I got back into the car ... having felt like I had just done so little ... and I cried for 20 minutes," LaBrot said. The farming village was extremely poor, and many people were in desperate need of medical attention. "I essentially decided right then and there that I was going to come back, either to that village or to another one of the hundreds of thousands of villages just like it all over the world ... and I would bring more help. I would bring a bigger backpack." Today, LaBrot's "backpack" can carry 20,000 pounds of medical supplies. The American started Floating Doctors, a seafaring medical group that provides free health care for people in remote coastal regions. In the last two years, LaBrot and his team of volunteers have traveled on "The Southern Wind," a 76-foot-long refurbished ship, to treat nearly 13,000 patients in Haiti, Honduras and Panama. "Most of the communities that we serve are communities that have fallen through the cracks because they're too small, they're too far away (or) they're too hard to get to," said LaBrot, 36. Typically, LaBrot and his team will anchor at the coast and then use a smaller craft or vehicle to reach remote areas. In some cases, they'll walk miles to reach small villages in need. "The end result is that you end up in a community which may never have been visited by modern health care providers," he said. "I'll find patients who have never seen a doctor before in their lives." Approximately one-half of the world's population lives in rural areas, according to the World Health Organization, and most of them usually lack trained health care workers. Oftentimes, these communities don't have electricity or running water, either. LaBrot first steered "The Southern Wind" to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010, delivering 20,000 pounds of medical supplies, 80 sheets of plywood and 2,500 pounds of tin roofing. He and his team then stayed in the country for three months treating patients. They had no money for personal transportation, so they walked to and from the clinic where they worked. It endeared them, LaBrot said, to the Haitian people. "You gain extraordinary acceptance by your patients when you walk through the same mud that they do," he said. During the three months the group spent living and working in Haiti, it operated 25 mobile clinics, treated 2,500 patients, and rebuilt schools with the tin roofing they brought. LaBrot said the entire undertaking cost only $5,000, including the fuel to get to Haiti from Miami. It helps that the medical supplies are donated by groups like Direct Relief International, but using a ship is also a very cost-effective way of working. "You can house people onboard," LaBrot said. "On a ship, you can generate your own water, you can generate your own power. And those power sources can be from renewable energy sources." Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2012 CNN Heroes . LaBrot originally envisioned Floating Doctors to be a provider of "brigade medicine." He imagined himself and other volunteers dropping into hard-to-reach areas for short durations. But Haiti changed that. There, LaBrot saw the need to stay put for a while and make a real impact. "The benefits that you can create if you're there longer are extraordinary," he said. "In Haiti, we learned after two weeks you just start to know your way around. After a month, you have some sense of the health care ecology of the area. After two months, you can really start calling on the community to assist you in your work." In addition to providing medical care, Floating Doctors enlists locals to help with smaller-scale projects that address specific community needs. The group has installed water filtration systems, built ramps for the disabled, improved care for the elderly and raised awareness about local health issues. LaBrot works side by side with his younger sister, Sky, to run the all-volunteer organization. Since the project began, 180 volunteers from nine countries have joined the effort, including medical residents, nursing students and retired physicians. LaBrot is the only full-time doctor on board. Following their initial trip to Haiti, LaBrot and his team traveled to Honduras for a seven-month stay. They later returned to Haiti to offer aid during a cholera outbreak, and then in May, the group left Haiti for Bocos del Toro, Panama, where they have been working for the last nine months. LaBrot said he knew of the need in Honduras and Panama, and connections he had made in those countries enabled him to reach remote communities there. In the future, LaBrot hopes to set up permanent clinics that would be run by local health care workers in the three countries they've visited. "I do not want to have to treat a couple hundred people and then have to go," LaBrot said. "I want to treat thousands and thousands of people. And better than that, I want to be able to provide the people we treat with the capabilities to carry on what they've learned so they can continue to help others after we leave." Floating Doctors is run entirely on donations. While LaBrot wears many hats to keep his project afloat -- he often serves as captain, cook and lab technician -- he says he wouldn't have it any other way. "I had to postpone many aspects of my own personal life. I don't have a home somewhere. I had to give up a lot," he said. "But I gained everything." Want to get involved? Check out the Floating Doctors website at http://floatingdoctors.com and see how to help.

Dr. Benjamin LaBrot started Floating Doctors to reach remote coastal communities . He and his team of volunteers treat villagers and help them improve their quality of life . Many of the people they treat have never even seen a doctor before . Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2012 CNN Heroes .

(CNN) -- A prominent Sri Lankan rights activist controversially detained by his government under anti-terror laws says he believes his arrest was partly spurred by an international push to independently investigate the country's human rights record following decades of civil war. Ruki Fernando, one of his country's leading human rights activists, was arrested late Sunday night with fellow activist Rev. Praveen Mahesan, a Roman Catholic priest, in the former Tamil rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi in the country's north. The men were taken to the Colombo headquarters of Sri Lanka's Terrorist Investigation Division, held for more than 48 hours and questioned, without access to lawyers, before being released early Monday. "I think it's a deliberate attempt to intimidate and suppress any form of dissent, criticism or challenge, and clearly not allow people outside Sri Lanka to know what's happening inside the country," Fernando told CNN after his release. "I anticipate that I will be subject to greater scrutiny and I am extremely worried about the safety and wellbeing of my colleagues and people I've spoken to in the past." The arrests drew a wave of condemnation from NGOs and foreign governments, with British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire saying they were "not acceptable" and the U.S. Embassy expressing concern. Fred Carver of the UK-based Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice said the invocation of anti-terror laws was "outrageous" and "patently absurd." "They're peace activists," he said. Proposed resolution . The arrests occurred in the build-up to a crucial session of the United Nations Human Rights Council this month, at which a resolution sponsored by the United States, Britain and other countries is expected to be tabled. The proposed resolution could call for an independent international investigation into war crimes committed by government forces and Tamil separatists during Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war, which ended in 2009, as well as more recent alleged government abuses in the five years since its end. The council has passed two previous resolutions urging Sri Lanka to investigate war crimes, but its perceived failure to do so has led some nations to call for an independent investigation. Sri Lankan police spokesman Ajith Rohana said Fernando faced three charges: selling information abroad, attempting to damage the national harmony between communities, and aiding and abetting the rebuilding of the Tamil Tigers -- the brutal militant group involved in fighting for a Tamil homeland in the north of the country during the decades-long civil war. The investigation had found insufficient evidence to proceed with the charges. Fernando said the first two charges, which appeared to relate to his work with foreign media to highlight rights abuses, suggested that their arrest was motivated in strong part by the impending events in Geneva. "I think what happened to us is very much linked to the resolution discussion," he said. "I was repeatedly asked who in Geneva, who outside Sri Lanka, was I sharing information with? It seemed very clear they took great care for other nations not to hear any alternative information or perspectives from within Sri Lanka." 'Attempt to intimidate' Carver said that, beyond the Sri Lankan government's "thumbing its nose at Geneva," the arrests amounted to an attempt to intimidate those working to expose human rights abuses in post-war Sri Lanka. "I think this is about sending a warning to human rights defenders that just because Geneva is going their way they haven't won, and more importantly showing them that they cannot interface with U.N. processes without suffering consequences. So if an investigation is established, they better not testify." But Rohana denied that there was any attempt to intimidate or punish those involved in activism around the U.N. resolution. He said the activists had been arrested after visiting a place of interest relating to the shooting of a policeman in the Kilinochchi area last week. Fernando, a Catholic from the country's Sinhalese majority, denies any connection to the shooting or those responsible. He said he and Mahesan, a Tamil, had gone to investigate the facts surrounding the arrest of another activist in relation to the shooting, in the regular course of their human rights work. The activist, Jeyakumari Balendran, became a prominent campaigner against political disappearances after her teen son, who had been conscripted to fight for the Tigers, went missing after reportedly surrendering at the end of the war. She was arrested Friday on suspicion of harboring K.P. Selvanayagam, a Tamil Tiger-affiliated figure also known as "Gobi," after he shot and wounded a policeman as authorities closed in on her house, according to a Sri Lankan government memo to the U.N. Fernando denied any connection to Selvanayagam. Mixed fortunes . The end of Sri Lanka's civil war has been a boon to its economy, paving the way for infrastructure reconstruction and the return of tourists, and bolstering President Mahinda Rajapaksa's popularity. But activists are calling on the international community to pay attention to conditions in Tamil-majority areas in the north and east of the country. A large military presence is at the heart of complaints of ongoing land expropriation, disappearances, sexual violations, arbitrary arrests and limitations on the freedom of movement, according to rights groups. Meanwhile an ongoing "Sinhalization" process -- in which the Buddhist culture and places of worship of the Sinhalese community were replacing the Hindu landscape of Tamil areas -- was a serious concern, as was growing hostility towards Christian and Muslim minorities, according to a joint memorandum submitted by civil society groups to the U.N. earlier this month. In a report in February, the Office of the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged Sri Lanka's progress made in implementing some of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, its national mechanism for post-war reconciliation. But it noted the government had failed to ensure independent and credible investigations into past violations, and noted ongoing attacks on religious minorities and intimidation of human rights activists, lawyers and journalists.

Two Sri Lankan human rights activists held under anti-terror laws have been released . Their arrests were condemned by the U.S., UK and international rights groups . Police say they were held after visiting addresses of interest in connection to a police shooting . One of the men believes the arrests are linked to a push to condemn Sri Lanka at the U.N.

(CNN) -- The chants started from the upper reaches of Radio City Music Hall, but when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped to the podium to begin the NFL draft on Thursday night, it was clear the fans had more on their minds than the first pick. "We want football! We want football! We want football!" Those football fans were speaking for millions across the country, all wondering when their sport will get paroled from the labor impasse that has imprisoned it over the past two months. SI.com: NFL draft round 2 analysis | Round 1 aftermath . Finally, there are signs that might be happening. The NFL announced Thursday, after getting sacked twice in the courts this week, that offseason business resumes today. Weight rooms are open for workouts again. Coaches can hand out playbooks. Players can receive treatment. Read the NFL's statement . "Football's back," union chief DeMaurice Smith declared. Well ... not quite. The NFL and its players still have significant hurdles to clear before reaching an agreement that will finally end the labor dispute that has hovered over the sport for months. And, if an appeals court rules in the NFL's favor, the league could go right back into shutdown mode. But the latest news is potentially a step toward a full, uninterrupted football season. Here is a quick primer on the latest developments: . How did we get to this point? U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson issued a strong rebuke of the owners Monday, ordering an immediate end to the lockout in an 89-page ruling. The league requested the judge to freeze her ruling, and in a decision that surprised no one, she declined. In her ruling, Nelson wrote that continuing the lockout "is presently inflicting, and will continue to inflict, irreparable harm upon (the players), particularly when weighed against the lack of any real injury that would be imposed on the NFL by issuing the preliminary injunction." It was the arguably the biggest victory ever for the NFL players, long regarded as the weakest and most often trampled-upon union in professional sports. The owners, who want a bigger slice of the league's $9.3 billion revenue pie, had no choice but to resume business. "Clubs are free to contact players immediately to advise them of the hours that the facility will be open for their use, to schedule medical and rehabilitation activity, and to arrange meetings with coaches or related activity, such as film study or classroom work," the NFL said in its statement. How did the NFL respond? Bitterly. In a letter to The Wall Street Journal, Goodell predicted mass chaos if the players win this fight -- while conveniently ignoring the detail that it was the owners who started it by opting out of their collective bargaining agreement with the players. "Rather than address the challenge of improving the collective-bargaining agreement for the benefit of the game," he wrote, "the union-financed lawsuit attacks virtually every aspect of the current system including the draft, the salary cap and free-agency rules, which collectively have been responsible for the quality and popularity of the game for nearly two decades." Read Goodell's letter to The Wall Street Journal . Is all that true? More likely, it's a stance for negotiating . The players are the ones who were comfortable in the current system -- the owners opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement and asked the players to give back $1 billion of their slice of the revenue pie to help finance stadium construction. So where does the case go now? To the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. The appellate court will rule on the request for a stay, and to prevail, the NFL must show that it will be irreparably harmed if a stay isn't granted. A ruling on the appeal is expected to take at least two months. The onus is now on the owners to prove that the current system harms them -- a hard sell, considering the unprecedented success of professional football and the billion-dollar valuation of the teams. The league's best bet was always to dig in and hope for the players to fracture and cave; now, with legal rulings on their side, the players have more reason than ever to stay united. Remember: Players make the bulk of their salary during the season. Most won't really notice the financial hit until they start missing checks in September. What happens if a stay isn't granted? Get ready for open season. The league would need to immediately put in place interim rules governing free agency, rookie signings and trades. Once it does, the teams would be free to begin signing players, even as the Court of Appeals process continues. The NFL Network's Jason La Canfora reported Thursday that all of that could begin as early as Monday. Philadelphia Eagles fans are most interested in that: Their team is preparing to trade backup quarterback Kevin Kolb. What does this mean for the newly drafted players? They're in the same boat as the current players -- they'll have to wait and see. But unlike the established players, the incoming rookies don't have the same experience with an NFL team. The longer the labor issues drag out, the steeper the learning curve might be for the newcomers. Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, the No. 1 pick of the Carolina Panthers, has a lot to prove. The question is, when will he have the chance to get started? When should fans really start to fear games will be missed? If this drags into late August, start worrying. The NFL left some wiggle room in the schedule, leaving open the possibility that even if no games were played in the first three weeks of the season, all 16 games could still be played. The league also reserved hotel rooms for an additional week in Indianapolis, the site of the Super Bowl, which means the league could move the game from February 5, 2012, to February 12, 2012, if absolutely necessary. What is the best-case scenario for fans? That the legal rulings -- and the prospect for more litigation and acrimony -- will prompt both sides to get back to the negotiating table and make real concessions. That's always been the most sensible course of action. Of course, if they did that in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess right now.

NFL fans boo commissioner and chant for football at NFL draft . League's labor battle is being fought in the courts . Players have won early legal victories, which may be helping them stay united . A test of their unity could come in September, when they'd start missing paychecks .

(CNN) -- Through a bit of calendrical coincidence, Easter Sunday this year falls on April 20. That's unfortunate because April 20 has become, through no fault of its own, the highest and holiest day of the pot smoker's year. From its origins as the meeting time (4:20 p.m.) of some Bay Area joint-passers in the early 70s, the 4/20 movement has evolved into an annual occasion for mass smoke-outs in leaf-friendly cities like Denver, San Francisco and my hometown of Seattle. So Sunday should be replete with news coverage of sunrise services, Pope Francis on the balcony and twentysomething bros sucking on burrito-size doobies. I expect to see at least one weedhead in bunny ears on the top-o-the-hour news: "Meanwhile, in Colorado..." America, I am here to tell you: Don't take the extreme to represent the mainstream. What you see on Sunday may be rude, crude and obnoxious. But it bears as much relevance to marijuana reform as New York's raucous St. Patrick's Day parade does to the history of the Irish people. I say this as a middle-aged pot agnostic who's living with the reality of legalized marijuana. Eighteen months ago I became something of a canary in the cannabis coal mine. My home state of Washington voted to legalize marijuana. I was a father of two kids about to enter their teens. I hadn't touched pot since college. Initially against legalization, I switched my vote at the last minute. Since then I've been digging into the reasons behind that last-minute change of heart -- and, by extension, into the reasons so many Americans have recently changed their minds about marijuana. Believe me, we didn't do it in order to party down with Dreadhead Jones. We did it because our marijuana laws no longer made any sense. As I write this, I'm flying from New Orleans to Denver. In doing so I'm exiting the state with the nation's most Kafkaesque marijuana laws and entering the state with the most regulated legal pot system in the world. Cannabis lovers take Denver's 420 weekend to new highs . Do you know the main difference between the two? It's the number of people in prison for pot. In Louisiana, it's not uncommon to serve five to ten years in prison for minor marijuana possession. Five to ten. That's more than some rape, robbery, or aggravated manslaughter convictions. And it's the main reason Louisiana has the highest per-capita prison population in the world. Last week I spoke with a man who was caught with 2.8 grams of marijuana in his pocket during a classic stop-and-frisk. (Do I need to tell you he's black?) He's the same age as me. He had a wife, a kid, a job. Now he's serving 13 years. "I don't understand it," he told me. "There are guys in my cell here for violent crimes, awful things, and they're doing less time than me. If I think about it too much it drives me crazy." I felt like I was talking with a modern-day Jean Valjean. When I land in Denver, I'll stop by the Medicine Man shop over on Nome Street and buy two grams for $34 and change. No one will be harmed in the process. I'll take the bud and a bottle of wine to dinner at a friend's house. He'll probably take a couple puffs on the pot; I'll take one myself, but probably concentrate on the Merlot. Legal or not, weed's not really my thing. How's it working out for Denver? Since the city's retail pot stores opened on January 1, violent crime is down. Property crimes are down. Cops used to arrest about 10,000 people every year for marijuana possession in Colorado. Now they don't. Legal weed hasn't inspired an army of hooligans to tear up the state. It's just kept 10,000 people with a little bud in their pockets from being branded as criminals. Instead of losing their jobs, they keep them. Instead of draining tax dollars as prisoners, they contribute tax dollars as workers and consumers. There is hope for those in Louisiana. An odd-bedfellows coalition of social justice campaigners and fiscal responsibility advocates have joined together to push for sentencing reform. That's a long way from legalization, but it may bring some common sense to an area that's suffered from a dearth of it over the past couple of decades. Kevin Kane, president of the conservative Pelican Institute for Public Policy, is no pot legalizer. He simply believes the sentence should fit the crime. Ten years for a gram of marijuana? "It offends many people's sense of justice, including mine," he told me. By the time I left New Orleans, it looked like reform might have a chance. The Times-Picayune editorial board declared that "Pot possession penalties are too high," and called for saner penalties -- a $100 fine and up to six months in jail. There was talk of considering more drug court deferrals and fewer Les Miserables sentences. This is the day-to-day substance of marijuana reform in America. Some states are moving slowly toward legalization. Others, like Louisiana, aren't down with that, but they are ready to reel in the worst excesses of the drug war. That's something to keep in mind when the most outlandish pot smokers splash across your screens on Sunday. The 4/20 shenanigans are an outlier. Most beer drinkers don't imbibe like Germans at Octoberfest or spring breakers in Florida. And I'm finding it's the same way with pot. The 4/20 exuberants are one-day extremists. The reality of legal pot is something more akin to my dinner in Denver: Quiet, normal, and yes, almost boring. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.

Bruce Barcott looks at differences in marijuana laws in Colorado and Louisiana . In Louisiana, a second marijuana possession offense could get you 5-10 years in prison . In Colorado, you can buy two grams for $34 and change, and never go to jail . April 20 is seen as a day of celebration for pot smokers .

(CNN) -- Imagine the top three things that might make you happier and more productive at the office. I bet larger lunch tables didn't make your list. But that and a few other small but concrete steps like overlapping lunch breaks and moving coffee stations can improve workplace morale and productivity by as much as 25%, according to Ben Waber, a research scientist and CEO of Sociometric Solutions, a management consulting firm. "If you go to a company and tell them you will increase their productivity by 25%, they will expect that they have to completely reorganize," Waber told me last week at the Aspen Ideas Festival. But a total reorganization isn't necessary, according to Waber's research, which first began in 2006 when he was a doctoral student at MIT Media Lab's Human Dynamics Laboratory. Scientists at the MIT Media Lab consider ways in which technology might enhance the human experience. (Though Waber co-founded his company last year, he continues his research at MIT and Harvard.) Waber and his team use a method they call "reality mining" to come up with insights about work productivity and satisfaction. Reality mining may appear to be more science fiction than fact, but from our cell phones to e-mail to work ID badges, we leave behind constant trails of information about ourselves. Stand up and live longer . Analyzing raw data derived from specially designed social sensing ID badges that collect quantitative data on human behavior, Waber began drawing out patterns to help predict outcomes in a variety of situations. His early experiments involved observing speed dating sessions and pitches to venture capitalists. "We found in our studies that we had incredible predictive power," says Waber. "In the speed dating experiment, with five minutes of data we could predict with 85% accuracy whether people were going to go out on a date." Waber went on to combine the data from the social sensing ID badges with other data sources -- e-mail and instant messaging patterns, phone logs, and meeting information—and selected data features that related to job performance and satisfaction, and how people communicate and collaborate. He then began to test those features across dozens of companies in different industries. "Eventually we found the same trends recurring over and over again, making it highly unlikely that our findings were a coincidence." Waber's research revealed that the key to transformation in the workplace is "social levers" -- small changes that people respond to in dramatic ways. Act on these social levers in the right way and you will get big results. Author: Don't check your emotions at the workplace door . What are some important social levers? Having a tight-knit group that you can commiserate with is a critical one, says Waber. It is evident across companies and cultures: A tight group enables employees to vent and gain support. It also allows for the exchange of complex information and tips. The size of your network matters as well. In one project, Waber and his team observed workers in a lunchroom with tables of varying sizes -- some with four seats and others with 10 to 12 seats. The lunch groups remained fairly stable over time. "We found that the people who sat at the larger tables had substantially higher performance," observes Waber. This is because they had created a much bigger network to tap into. Over the course of the week, they saw the same people again and again. Consequently, they often knew what these colleagues were working on and could go to them if they had a problem. The employees at the smaller tables, on the other hand, had smaller networks and less opportunity to interact. The diversity within your network also matters, the team discovered. Waber finds that people tend to spend time with those who are similar to them. "Whether it's gender, race or the school you went to, there are many different ways we break ourselves into groups." For a healthier work life, get off your duff! But it's important to break out of your comfort zone, expand your network and connect with broader groups. What makes people more innovative and productive is having different connections in a variety of social groups, according to their research. If all your friends are similar and have the same opinions, preferences and habits, there aren't many new ideas coming in. Branch out and talk to people in groups you wouldn't normally talk to, suggests Waber. It doesn't have to be through a formal mechanism. "It can be through bumping into people by the coffee machine. Just standing there and chatting gives you new perspective. Our research shows that chance encounters make people more effective." Waber recommends taking time every day to walk around, check in with people and say hello. Workers who are more physically active are more excited, emotive and engaged in their work. This drives up energy levels and makes people more productive and happy, he says. The physical environment is also a huge social lever. Waber finds that companies often don't think strategically about the people they want interacting with each other. "If you are stuck in an office far away from everyone you work with, it's unlikely that you will be talking to anyone else." Your location can affect morale and productivity, as can a workplace where everyone sits in their offices with the doors closed. You need to have the right groups bumping into and talking to each other. One final social lever: Reduce e-mail! "The more e-mail you engage in, the less effective you are," says Waber. "People think being on the computer is the same as being face to face. That's a fallacy." E-mail and instant messaging are not universally bad, he says, but if we rely on them too much and don't take the time to interact with people on a personal level, we will pay the price. There is a pervasive belief in our society that in order to be productive, we need to be chained to our desks with our heads down. But Waber's research begs to differ. As it turns out, the secret to effectiveness and happiness at work might just be communication, friendship and social interaction. Go figure. What would make you happier at work? Are you more productive when lots of people are around, or when you're on your own? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

Researcher Ben Waber says the secret to workplace happiness is as simple as rearranging the office . Lessening e-mails, increasing personal interaction can lead to greater productivity . Waber's team found that the larger your social circle at work, the more productive you are . Waber suggests circulating around the office and chatting up strangers .

(CNN) -- A shortage of lethal injection chemicals has contributed to declining use of capital punishment in the United States with a new report on Thursday noting only 39 executions this year. It is only the second time in the past two decades the annual number of inmates put to death has dropped below 40. The total represents a 10 percent reduction from last year. No further executions are scheduled in 2013. "Twenty years ago, use of the death penalty was increasing. Now it is declining by almost every measure," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and the author of the report. "The recurrent problems of the death penalty have made its application rare, isolated, and often delayed for decades. More states will likely reconsider the wisdom of retaining this expensive and ineffectual practice." The nonprofit organization provides accurate figures and a range of analysis, but opposes use of the death penalty. Lethal injection in nine states . While the annual number of executions and death sentences continues to drop nationally overall, it remains a legally and socially acceptable form of justice for aggravated murder in 32 states. But just nine states conducted lethal injections this year, and two -- Texas with 16 and Florida with 7 -- accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total. Texas is among the active death-penalty states scrambling to find new lethal injection protocols after European-based manufacturers banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions. Among them is Danish-based Lundbeck, which manufactures pentobarbital, the most commonly used -- either as a single drug, or in combination with others -- to execute prisoners. New drug combinations . States have been forced to try new drug combinations or go to loosely regulated compounding pharmacies that manufacturer variations of the drugs banned by the larger companies, according to an investigation last month by CNN's Deborah Feyerick. A pending lawsuit against Texas filed by several death row inmates and their supporters alleges the state corrections department falsified a prescription for pentobarbital using an alias. Until recently, most states relied on a three-drug "cocktail," but many jurisdictions now use a single dose or a two-drug combination. Various state and federal courts have postponed some planned executions until issues surrounding the new protocols are resolved. Every execution this year relied on pentobarbital, except in Florida, which used midazolam hydrochloride -- a drug applied for the first time in human lethal injections. And Missouri was prepared to inject a single dose of the anesthetic propofol for its two recent executions, until Gov. Jay Nixon halted its application. The European Union had threatened to limit export of the widely used drug for other purposes if the state had proceeded. The two inmates were separately put to death in recent weeks using pentobarbital instead. First woman executed . Among the high-profile capital cases this year involved Kimberly McCarthy, the first woman executed in the United States in three years. The former Dallas-area resident was convicted of murdering her neighbor, and in June became the state's 500th prisoner to die at the hands of the government since 1976, when the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume. So far, 1,359 people have been put to death across the country since that time, using lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad. That includes three federal prisoners. Spared for now was Georgia inmate Warren Hill, whose attorneys say he is mentally disabled. Courts earlier this year stayed three separate execution dates, one with just minutes to spare. The Supreme Court in March will hold oral arguments and decide whether the Florida scheme for identifying mentally disabled defendants in capital cases violates previous standards established by the high court. Freddie Lee Hall and an accomplice were convicted of the 1978 murders of a pregnant 21-year-old woman and a sheriff's deputy in separate store robberies, both on the same day. His lawyers say the death row inmate has an IQ of 60. In Missouri, Reginald Griffin was freed in October and his sentence thrown out after the state high court found the trial prosecution withheld critical evidence that may have implicated another prisoner in a jailhouse murder. He became the 143rd person exonerated from death row in the past 40 years. Maryland abolishes death penalty . Maryland became the sixth state in as many years to abolish its death penalty, joining Connecticut, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico. Eighteen other states have previously done so. Attorney General Eric Holder faces a tough decision in coming months: whether to seek the death penalty in federal court for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev. Across the country, capital sentences remain at historic lows, with just 79 so far this year. They have declined in number by 75 percent from 1996, said the report, when 315 people were put on death row. With the death penalty declining and recent polls showing a corresponding drop in public support, some legal analysts wonder if the Supreme Court is prepared in coming years to take another look at the issue's overall constitutionality -- whether capital punishment in the 21st century represents "cruel and unusual punishment." No sign of Supreme Court review . The justices in most cases continue to deny most requests for stays of executions, usually without any comment, or a breakdown of which members of the nine-member bench might have granted such a delay. "It certainly seems that it merits another day in court after 40 years," said Evan Mandery, a law professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and author of the new book "A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America." "There are a lot of reasons to think that (moderate-conservative) Justice Anthony Kennedy's vote is up for grabs and his mind is open on this question. So I don't think the outcome of a case would be predetermined one way or another." But there is no sign such a monumental legal and social review by the nation's highest court will be coming soon.

Shortage of lethal injection chemicals contributes to drop in capital punishment . The number of executions falls below 40, off 10 percent from last year . Nine states executed inmates in 2013 with Texas and Florida accounting for most . The Supreme Court is not likely to address the issue any time soon .

London (CNN) -- A 23-year-old English Premier League soccer player remained in intensive care Monday after suffering cardiac arrest during a game in London, his club Bolton said. Saturday's match between top-flight teams Bolton and Tottenham was called off after Fabrice Muamba, a Bolton midfielder, collapsed on the pitch before halftime. Medics came onto the field to try to revive him while fans and players looked on in shock. Muamba was taken to the Heart Attack Center at The London Chest Hospital, where he has been kept since. "Fabrice Muamba's heart condition is stable, but he remains critically ill in intensive care," read Monday's joint statement from Bolton and the hospital. Bolton manager Owen Coyle said Muamba's family appreciated the large amount of messages of support they had received. "The message is the good will, the prayers from everybody, they are so thankful and they want to put that on record -- to say 'keep up the prayers, thanks for all the support,' " Coyle told reporters outside the hospital after visiting the player Monday. "They have been inundated as we all have, both in the football community globally and family and friends. People are taking a genuine interest and a real concern with how Fabrice is doing." "It's a difficult situation but the family are bearing up as well as they can. They themselves are very positive people," Coyle said. "You look at what Fabrice has been through in life already and you can tell that he is a fighter. He has such a fantastic smile and that's what we all want to see again." Magunda also thanked fans via her account on micro-blogging website Twitter. "2 everyone out there thank u so much for all the love and support collectively as a family we appreciate it all. Plz continue 2 pray 4 fab x," she wrote on Monday. "Fabrice WILL!! Pull through because God is good. Love u so much @fmuamba keep strong we're praying for u honey xx" Bolton said Sunday that Muamba received "prolonged resuscitation" on the ground and en route to the hospital, where his heart eventually started working. "As is normal medical practice, Fabrice remains anesthetized in intensive care and will be for at least 24 hours," the club said. "His condition continues to be closely monitored by the cardiac specialists at the hospital." Players pray for Muamba's recovery . Muamba, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has represented England at under-21 level, fell to the ground in the 41st minute with no other players near him. Referee Howard Webb consulted both teams before calling off the match at Tottenham's home ground in London, which was a quarterfinal tie in England's prestigious knockout competition, the FA Cup. A member of CNN World Sport's London staff was at the match at White Hart Lane and described the situation. "We were situated on the halfway line. ... Fabrice Muamba just hit the deck out of nowhere," assistant producer Zayn Nabbi said by phone. "We realized quite quickly that this was serious because the medical staff all rushed on and they were waved onto the field by the Tottenham players. From what we saw they were trying to resuscitate Fabrice Muamba." Bolton Wanderers announced Sunday that its match with Aston Villa, scheduled for Tuesday evening, was postponed after talks with the club and the Premier League. Bolton thanked them both for their support and understanding. Muamba's peers have been quick to show their support on micro-blogging website Twitter. "For all those asking, I know as much as you do," wrote clubmate Stuart Holden, a U.S. international. "Waiting anxiously for updates from teammates. Fab is a fighter! prayforMuamba." Tottenham's Rafael van der Vaart wrote: "Terrible what happened with Muamba during the game. We're all praying for him." The last player to die after collapsing in a match in Britain was Motherwell's Phil O'Donnell, who suffered heart failure during a 2007 game against Scottish rivals Dundee United and passed away on the way to hospital. The most high-profile such tragedy was when Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe collapsed during a Confederations Cup semifinal against Colombia in 2003 and died in hospital. There have been two similar incidents more recently in Spain, involving Sevilla's Antonio Puerta in 2007 and Espanyol's Daniel Jarque in 2009. Muamba grew up in Kinshasa, the capital of what was then known as Zaire. After moving to the UK in 1999 he began his football career with Premier League club Arsenal in 2005 but did not make a first-team appearance in the top division and was loaned out to Birmingham. He signed a permanent deal with the Midlands club in 2007 before moving to Bolton a year later for a fee of £5 million ($8 million). English Football Association chairman David Bernstein paid tribute to Muamba, who played for his country at most age-group levels. "Fabrice has played 33 times for England Under-21s, captaining Stuart Pearce's side during this time, and is a player -- and more importantly -- a person we care greatly for," Bernstein said. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore praised those at the game for the way they reacted to the situation. "We would like to praise the players, match officials, coaching staff and medical teams of both clubs at White Hart Lane for their swift actions in attending Fabrice," Scudamore said in a statement. "The League would also like to commend the compassion shown by the fans of Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur." Those sentiments were echoed by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who in a club statement, thanked both sets of fans for their support and behavior. Levy said: "Too often we read the negatives about football and yet last night, at a time of intense emergency and uncertainty, we saw the true humanity and empathy of the footballing family."

Fabrice Muamba still in critical condition in intensive care at London heart hospital . Bolton says Fabrice Muamba will be anesthetized in intensive care for 24 hours . Bolton's Tuesday match with Aston Villa is postponed . Referee calls off quarterfinal match after consulting Bolton and Tottenham players .

(CNN) -- When news first broke about a month ago about enterovirus D68, also known as EV-D68, with hundreds of children hospitalized across the United States with respiratory illnesses, I definitely took notice. I clicked on a few news stories, like I'm sure many other parents did, especially since my girls, ages 6 and 8, were back at school and school, while wonderful, can also be a petri dish for young people. But then I must admit I kind of put the issue out of my mind, worrying instead about homework, the fall routine and whether my girls are getting enough sleep. (Their mom certainly isn't!) That was until I heard about a New Jersey 4-year-old who died in his sleep September 24. It is the first death health officials are directly linking to the virus. Tests have also shown EV-D68 in four other people who have died, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the role the virus played in those deaths "is unclear at this time." As of Monday, the CDC has confirmed 594 cases of enterovirus D68 in 43 states and the District of Columbia. When I put out a query to parents across the country on social media, asking if they are growing more anxious about the virus, many, like Cecily Kellogg, said they definitely are. "I am way more interested and worried about enterovirus than Ebola," said Kellogg, a mom of an 8-year-old daughter in Philadelphia and host of the blog Uppercasewoman.com. "While my daughter is (blessedly) healthy as could be with completely healthy lungs, and goes to a smaller school with fewer virus exposures, I still worry (particularly since, I, sadly, do have unhealthy lungs and while this is not an adult virus, I am still hyperaware)." Avital Norman Nathman, whose son is 7, said her child's elementary school recently sent an email to parents letting them know a few students were home with a respiratory illness and one was hospitalized. The school did not make it clear if any of the children had enterovirus, she said. But despite that alert, she said she's not in the "freak out" camp about the illness. "In the large picture, there are really only a small number of cases of the virus across the country, but I think the media focus causes people to panic (and) worry about it," said Norman Nathman, editor of the motherhood anthology "The Good Mother Myth" and host of the blog The Mamafesto. "It's definitely a scary illness but I'm not all that worried about my son contracting it." Doctors urge parents to keep things in perspective. First, "few people who contract EV-D68 develop symptoms other than a runny nose and a cough," said Dr. Andi Shane, associate professor of pediatrics and global health at Emory University's School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Secondly, the impact of EV-D68 is "quite modest" as compared to the flu, said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases and epidemiologist for Primary Children's Hospital, which is part of Intermountain Healthcare in Utah. "Flu kills several hundred children in an average year," said Pavia. "This is dramatically more than the impact of EV-D68, but we are familiar with flu, while EV-D68 is something that seems new and noteworthy." So, who is most at risk? It appears that children with asthma are more likely to develop significant symptoms than children without a history of breathing issues, doctors said. The most important sign that parents should be on the lookout for is trouble breathing. "Children who may need medical attention may breathe fast, use their neck or chest muscles to breath, and feel as if they cannot catch their breath after coughing," said Shane, who is also the Marcus Professor of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control at Emory. Children who may not be able to drink well may also require medical attention, she added, as well as any child who is not acting like his or herself. Many parents are heading to the doctor's office earlier than usual because of fears of enterovirus. Said a parent on Twitter, "My child was sick last night. At dr today just to rule it out. Normally I would just keep close eye 4 a day." Another concern for parents is figuring out when to keep children home from school to keep them safe. Pavia said he would not let fears a child will get the virus guide that decision. Many children will never catch it and most won't become seriously ill if they do, he said. Plus, he said the dangers may be decreasing. "By this time in many cities, the virus is on the wane, so the risk is going down. In fact, many children have probably already been infected and are now immune but because the symptoms were not remarkable, no one knew." The only reason to keep a child home, said Shane, is if the child is sick or if school officials advise children to stay home because other children in the school are hospitalized. The best prevention is exactly what you likely tell your children every day. They should wash their hands frequently and carefully, especially after using the bathroom, before eating and after they come into contact with people who have cold symptoms, Pavia said. There has been some speculation that hand sanitizers don't work with this virus, and that may be partially true, he added. "Enteroviruses are somewhat more resistant to alcohol-based (sanitizers) than another viruses," he said, so soap and water is the best first choice and hand sanitizers are a good backup if you can't wash your hands. "Doing something to wash your hands is better than doing nothing," he said. Norman Nathman said while she is not worried about her son getting the virus, she's taking advantage of all the attention. "It's a good opportunity to do what we can to boost our children's immune systems, get flu shots and remind about best practices when it comes to hand washing, etc." Are you growing more concerned about enterovirus D68? Tell Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook.

New Jersey preschooler first death officially linked to enterovirus D68 . Nearly 600 cases of the virus in 43 states and Washington, D.C. Few people who get the virus will have serious symptoms, doctors say . Doctors also caution that flu remains a bigger danger for children .

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Security forces in Iran on Thursday confronted thousands of protesting Iranians across the city, first at a cemetery and later at a prayer venue and near a government building, witnesses and news reports said. Mourners gather around the grave of Neda Agh-Soltan in Beheshte Zahra Cemetery. Clashes erupted at the cemetery as two of Iran's main opposition leaders tried to join the several thousand people at a memorial for the slain woman who became the symbol of Iran's post-election violence, witnesses said. The gathering was banned, but participants ignored the government strictures. However, security forces barred opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi from the gravesite of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old woman shot in election protests on June 20, witnesses and news reports said. More than 3,000 people were gathered at Agha-Soltan's grave, a witness said. Mourners arrived on the religiously significant 40th day after the fatal shooting in Tehran. For Iranians, a predominantly Shiite Muslim population, the 40th day after a death marks the last official day of mourning. At the cemetery, security forces used tear gas to clear the area of demonstrators and mourners. A witness said riot police and Basij militia were at the scene, but the confrontations with people in the crowd involved the militia. Watch a report on the memorial clashes » . The witness spotted instances of the baton-wielding militia charging the gathering, and said as many as nine beatings were seen. Other people appeared to have been beaten as they ran from police, the witness said. One of the mourners had a bloody head and one woman said she was struck on the back of the neck. One security force member sustained some sort of injury to the head and was bloodied. It is unclear exactly how that person was injured. A confrontation between women protesters and police also was seen. The women shouted, "Don't beat up our young people. You, our Muslim brothers. It is a shame to beat up our young people." The crowd chanted "Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein," the first a reference to the revered Shiite imam and the second a reference to Moussavi. Then there were more chants of "Allah wa Akbar," or God is great. iReport.com: Share your photos, video, stories . Despite reports of arrests, none were seen on the mourning day. U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said using force to "break up a group of people who were trying to exercise an important ritual in Islam, the mourning after 40 days," was "particularly disturbing." "We stand by the Iranian people who are exercising their universal right to self-expression and demonstrating peacefully," Kelly said. Iran's state-run news agency, IRNA, reported that the mourners "disrupted the order" in the city and damaged public and private property and that security forces were merely trying to control the "illegal activity" of the group. IRNA also reported that Tehran residents in the area were angry with the constant protests and wanted a stronger response from the security forces. Another witness told CNN that police directing traffic at the cemetery were helpful and friendly, in stark contrast to the riot police and Revolutionary Guard members who were at the gravesites. From the cemetery, the mourners arrived at the Mossalla, a building under construction that is expected to be the main venue of Tehran's Friday prayers, witnesses said. A couple thousand people demonstrated and police worked to disperse the crowd -- which also was defying a ban on such a gathering. "The police tried to discourage drivers from driving the main highway that would lead to central Tehran, but very few listened," one witness said. "Soldiers standing along the streets flashed the peace sign back at the honking cars with large smiles on their faces. It was obvious the soldiers and police forces were with the people." Thousands also marched and chanted along a prominent thoroughfare called Vali Asr Street, chanting slogans such as "Death to the dictator" amid the honking of car horns, a witness said. Amateur video posted Thursday on several Web sites and submitted to CNN's iReport showed a security officer swinging a baton at a demonstrator. CNN cannot confirm the circumstances of the images. Protesters gathered near the Interior Ministry building and trash cans were set ablaze, another witness said. Police on motorcycles attempted to break up the gathering, and one security officer was seen wielding a gun. Moussavi was the chief challenger of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June presidential elections, which the government said Ahmadinejad won in a landslide but many Iranians think was rigged. Moussavi had said on his Web site that he and fellow reform candidate Karrubi would commemorate Agha-Soltan's death with her mother at the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery. At the cemetery, a witness said a car identical to a vehicle belonging to Moussavi drove through the area. It was not clear if Moussavi was in the vehicle, but people were sitting atop and around the car as if to protect it. The car left the scene. In the days after the June vote, thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest the results. The government cracked down. Hundreds were detained in prison, among them 50 "political figures" accused of playing key roles in the street demonstrations that turned violent, Iranian media reported Wednesday. Among those still reportedly detained is Shahpour Kazemi, Moussavi's brother-in-law, according to Moussavi's wife. Others include Behzad Nabavi, a Moussavi ally, and Mostafa Tajzadeh, who served under Iranian President Mohammad Khatami -- a Moussavi supporter -- the Iranian Labor News Agency reported Tuesday.

Security forces confront protesters across Tehran . Some 3,000 mourners gather at the grave site of Neda Agha-Soltan . Agha-Soltan, 26, was shot in street protests after election on June 20 . Security forces rough up, beat some mourners, witnesses say .

(CNN) -- Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky faces additional child sex charges involving two more alleged victims, bringing the total to 10, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly. Sandusky was arrested Wednesday and charged with four counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, allegedly involving two men who were boys at the time of the encounters. "Today's criminal charges were recommended by a statewide investigating grand jury, based on evidence and testimony that was received following the initial arrest of Sandusky on November 5th," Kelly said in a news release. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. The former coach also faces one new count of indecent assault and two counts of endangering a child's welfare, each punishable by up to seven years behind bars and $15,000 in fines. And Sandusky faces a single new count of indecent assault and two counts of corruption of minors. "As in many of the other cases identified to date, the contact with Sandusky allegedly fit a pattern of 'grooming' victims," Kelly said in the news release. "Beginning with outings to football games and gifts; they later included physical contact that escalated to sexual assaults." Sandusky, who maintains his innocence, will face a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. His attorney, Joe Amendola, blamed prosecutors for turning the case into "a media circus," adding that Sandusky would have willingly turned himself in. Sandusky surrendered when he faced the initial charges. Amendola, who learned of the new charges from a CNN producer in his office, said he was unhappy prosecutors did not make sure he was aware of the arrest before the media. "I had a few words with the prosecutor," Amendola told CNN's Kathleen Johnston. "What I told them essentially is, if we are going to play hardball, both sides can play and I was a pretty good pitcher in my day." "The question begs to be asked, why would the attorney general's office decide not to tell me ... and why did they go to his house and take him out in handcuffs?" Amendola said. "I think the answer is self-explanatory." Amendola said he expected his client might not be able to post the $250,000 bail before Thursday because he didn't have time to make the arrangements. The alleged victims -- identified by authorities as Victim 9 and Victim 10 -- are believed to have encountered Sandusky at The Second Mile charity, a nonprofit organization he founded for underprivileged children. Victim 9 was between 11 and 12 years old when he first met the former coach back in 2004. Sandusky allegedly gave the boy gifts and money and took him to university football games, according to the grand jury presentment. The alleged victim testified he would make overnight visits to Sandusky's home and stay in a basement bedroom. He described a pattern of sexual assaults over a period of years, the grand jury said. "The victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him," the report states. Sandusky allegedly met Victim 10, then about age 10, in 1997 after a counselor recommended the boy attend the charity "because of difficulties in his home life." That witness said Sandusky performed oral sex on him and indecently touched him in an outdoor pool on campus, according to the grand jury. A grand jury report made public last month detailed 40 charges of rape and molestation against the former coach in a child sex abuse scandal that, at the time, involved eight alleged victims. Wednesday's announcement came on the heels of an attorney's statement on behalf of a 19-year-old man who stepped forward with claims that Sandusky gave him whiskey and sexually abused him, also in 2004. The man pointed to a single incident at the university's football building, according to attorney Chuck Schmidt of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was 12 at the time and it allegedly occurred while he was staying overnight during Second Mile activities, the attorney said. It is not clear if the man can be identified as Victim 9. Schmidt says he plans to file a lawsuit against Penn State, the charity and Sandusky in coming weeks. "He thought he was the only person this had ever happened to and when he found out there were others, that gave him enough courage to come forward," he said of his client. The Second Mile, meanwhile, reported Wednesday that it had "lost significant financial support" in the wake of the scandal and plans to reduce its staff. "We at The Second Mile are saddened by the need to make these cutbacks; however, our foremost concerns reside with the victims of the horrific abuse reported by the Attorney General and with the children we serve," the charity said in a written statement. Sandusky, the longtime Penn State defensive coordinator, has said he only "horsed around" with the disadvantaged boys in his care. An attorney for some of the alleged victims Monday blasted Sandusky's recent interview with The New York Times in which he attempted to clarify his relationships with young people. "If I say, 'No, I'm not attracted to young boys,' that's not the truth," Sandusky said, according to the interview published Saturday. "Because I'm attracted to young people -- boys, girls." His lawyer, who was present at the interview, spoke up at that point to note that Sandusky is "not sexually" attracted to them. "Right. I enjoy -- that's what I was trying to say -- I enjoy spending time with young people. I enjoy spending time with people," Sandusky added. "I mean, my two favorite groups are the elderly and the young." The former coach told the paper that prosecutors had twisted his decades of work with troubled youths as part of his charity. CNN's Kathleen Johnston and Susan Candiotti and journalist Sara Ganim contributed to this report .

Sandusky's attorney says his client may not make bail until Thursday . Charity faces financial troubles and reduces staff . Additional child sex charges against Sandusky are announced . Sandusky was arrested Wednesday and faces a preliminary hearing on December 13 .

(CNN) -- As of February, more U.S. adults own smartphones than simpler feature phones, according to new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Well, to be more specific: In answering questions from Pew, 45% of cell phone owners said that their phone is a smartphone. Also, 49% of cell phone owners said that their phone operates on a smartphone platform common to the U.S. -- which includes BlackBerry. According to Pew: "Taken together, just over half of cell owners (53%) said yes to one or both of these questions." Here's how it breaks down, by platform: 20% of U.S. cell phone owners currently have an Android phone. For iPhone, 19%. BlackBerry, 6% (a 10% drop since as recently as May 2011). Since May (the last time Pew gathered these statistics), the biggest growth in smartphone ownership was among adults aged 18 to 24 (up 18%); the next highest growth was among those aged 45 to 54 (16%). Other demographic segments with high growth in smartphone use include whites (15%); those with some college education (14%); and women, rural dwellers and those aged 25-34 (13% each). In terms of income, the highest overall growth in smartphone use occurred in the lowest income bracket: 12% growth among people from households earning $30,000 per year or less. Nevertheless, across all age ranges, people from low-income households or who never attended college are still significantly less likely to own a smartphone. The slowest growth in smartphone use was among people aged 65 and over (up only 2%). Also, smartphone use grew only 5% among blacks and Hispanics -- two groups that typically have demonstrated the greatest propensity to avidly use all the capabilities of a smartphone. In the bigger picture, according to Pew, 88% of all U.S. adults now own a cell phone and 46% of all American adults now use smartphones. Currently, 41% of U.S. adults use simpler "feature phones" -- which often include a Web browser, e-mail, photo and video camera, and the ability to run simple apps. Do most consumers really know whether their phone is a smartphone? Over a year ago, I did some local mobile market research (to gauge mobile preferences here in Oakland, California). At that time, I was surprised how many people were unsure whether or not they had a smartphone. Many assumed that if their phone had a Web browser, it was a smartphone -- and similarly, many users of simple BlackBerry devices did not consider them to be smartphones. Earlier Pew research indicated similar consumer confusion about smartphones. But by now, more U.S. cell phone owners appear to have this question sorted out. According to Pew: "As smartphone ownership has become more widespread over the last year, consumers have generally found it easier to answer questions about their phones and whether they own a smartphone or not. To be sure, there is still some confusion around this term as 8% of cell owners are still not sure if their phone is a smartphone. "However, this is a significant decrease from the 14% of cell owners who were not sure if their phone was a smartphone or not in May 2011. Similarly, the proportion of cell owners who volunteered that they don't know what type of phone they have fell from 13% of cell owners in May 2011 to just 4% of cell owners in February 2012." Of course, different sources of statistics view the smartphone/feature phone market split a bit differently. Data from comScore (which tracks the U.S. wireless market monthly) indicate that it won't be until later in 2012 that smartphones will start to comprise the majority of U.S. handsets in use. What does this halfway mark in the U.S. mobile market mean? Maybe not so much, for many people. Certainly, more people will have devices that technically are considered smartphones -- but people with lower incomes and educational attainment will tend to lag on getting smartphones. Also, not all smartphones are created equal. The low-cost Android market (particularly Android phones that can be obtained for less than $200 on no-contract plans) generally have slower processors, are running older versions of the Android operating system (which may not support popular apps) and often are harder to use or more cheaply made. As the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system becomes the norm for higher-end Android devices this year, you can bet that many people with cheap Android phones will still be running Gingerbread, unable to upgrade. Plus, in my experience, Android phones are especially prone to cryptic, hard-to-fix technical problems -- and tech support from carriers and manufacturers is practically worthless. If you're not comfortable with combing through user forums and trying fairly technical solutions, chances are you'll just have to give up and get a new phone in a year or less. I'm serious: the notorious contacts storage bug that plagues many HTC Android phones would have rendered my Droid Incredible completely useless last summer, had I not decided to root my phone and install a different version of Android called CyanogenMod7. Diagnosing that problem, trying different fixes and, eventually, taking a radical solution entailed a fair amount of research and work. I thrive on that kind of challenge -- but I can't imagine most consumers doing likewise. Finally, there's the learning curve. Smartphones are really hand-held computers that also happen to be able to make phone calls. Even the pricey, slick, user-friendly iPhone has a considerable learning curve, if you've never had a smartphone before. Most users of any kind of smartphone do not make use of most of what those devices can do. For many consumers, a smartphone will always be overkill. Smartphones may be becoming the norm, but that doesn't mean their benefits are evenly distributed. The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of Amy Gahran.

Survey says "just over half of cell owners" have smartphone or use smartphone platform . Biggest growth in smartphone ownership was among adults aged 18-24, survey says . It says highest growth in smartphone use occurred in the lowest income bracket . Amy Gahran: Smartphones may be becoming norm, but benefits may not be spread evenly .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan missed her first day of community service at the Los Angeles County morgue Thursday, one day after a judge rebuked her for similar failures, revoked her probation and forced her to post $100,000 bail. "Lindsay arrived at the morgue approximately 20 minutes late and will be returning for orientation tomorrow," said her publicist Steven Honig. "Her lateness was due to a combination of not knowing what entrance to go through and confusion caused by the media waiting for her arrival," Honig said in a statement. "Lindsay spoke with the supervisors at the morgue. They showed her how to get in, and everything is all cleared up." Chief Coroner Craig Harvey said Lohan failed to show up on time -- 7 a.m. PT Thursday -- to the coroner's office. Though she arrived late, Lohan was turned away because there wasn't enough time to complete her hours for the day, officials said. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner ruled Wednesday that after Lohan posted $100,000 bail for her probation revocation, she had to perform two working shifts -- or eight hours a day -- twice a week until her probation revocation hearing November 2. Lohan's tardiness Thursday doesn't mean she is turned away from the program, Harvey said. If Lohan shows up Friday on time, she will be allowed to work and perform her community service, Harvey said. The coroner's office will dismiss Lohan from her morgue duties only if she does something "terribly" wrong or shows misconduct, Harvey said. Sautner revoked probation for Lohan because of her failure to comply with community service at a downtown Los Angeles women's center. Under Sautner's ruling, once Lohan made bail the same day, the actress now must perform 16 hours of community service a week -- over a minimum of two days a week -- at the county morgue before her probation violation hearing next month. Lohan, 25, was on probation after pleading guilty in May to stealing a necklace from a Venice, California, jewelry store. She served five weeks of home confinement ending in June for that misdemeanor theft and violation of another probation. Lohan's legal woes began in 2007 with two drunken driving arrests and have been compounded by her failure to attend counseling classes and her failures of alcohol and drug tests. Her current probation calls for her to perform 360 hours at the Los Angeles Downtown Women's Center and 120 hours at the county morgue within a year. But the judge expressed anger Wednesday at Lohan's repeated probation failures. She said Lohan posted nine absences at the women's center since her last court hearing July 21 -- and performed, at most, only two hours of service. Lohan's attempt to perform community service at a nearby Red Cross facility -- instead of the women's center -- was voided Wednesday because the judge said she didn't authorize that change. After the hearing, Lohan publicist Honig released a statement: "Lindsay is hoping this matter will be resolved on November 2 and the court will reinstate probation and allow her to continue fulfilling her community service." Lohan's estranged father, Michael Lohan, told HLN's "Issues With Jane Velez-Mitchell" that his daughter needs "a very, very intensive" program of rehabilitation for substance abuse. "What the judge did, she had to do," he said Wednesday. But he said jail time would not be the proper remedy. "She's not going to be working the morgue. She's going to wind up in a morgue if someone doesn't do something to get her help," he said. At one point during this week's hearing, Los Angeles city attorneys Lisa Houle and Melanie Chavira asked the court to revoke Lohan's probation and impose jail time because of her failure to do community service. One of the city attorneys said Lohan "is in violation for getting herself kicked out of the women's center, which she was ordered to do." But Lohan's attorney told the court that the actress received "a glowing" probation report, which said that "Ms. Lohan has reached a turning point" in her behavior and maturity. The judge raised several questions about the reliability of that report, however. Sautner remarked how the probation report showed Lohan had excused absences from community service between September 9 and October 5 so that she could travel to New York, Milan, Italy, and Paris for work. But a psychologist's report said Lohan had perfect attendance for counseling every week, the judge observed. "The psychologist said she appeared in person for her counseling every Tuesday," the judge said. "I don't know how she did that." "Did she go to Milan for five days and come back in time or go to Paris for five days and come back in time?" Sautner asked the defense attorney. "If she was gone from September 9 to October 5, did she get beamed across the pond? I don't know how that happened," the judge said. Lohan's attorney, Shawn Holley, told Sautner that she didn't know the specifics of Lohan's psychological appointments, but the attorney said the arrangement did call for phone conferences. Holley added that Lohan's work in Europe was done to support her and her family -- and affected her ability to carry out the community service. "Because the work is out of the county, it did cause a disruption to her schedule" to do community service, Holley said. Lohan's community service at the county morgue won't be easy, the judge noted. "They don't mess around and you show up and do what they tell you to do," Sautner said. CNN's Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.

NEW: Coroner says Lindsay Lohan missed her 7 a.m. PT start time . Publicist: She arrives 20 minutes late to do community service at Los Angeles County morgue . Actress will return to the morgue Friday and try again, her publicist says . A judge has already revoked Lohan's probation because of other similar failures .

Washington (CNN) -- In direct and emotional terms, President Barack Obama informed the nation and the world Sunday night that a U.S. operation in Pakistan earlier in the day killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden almost 10 years after terrorist attacks that killed thousands. "I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children," the president said, looking directly into the television camera in the East Room of the White House for the statement broadcast nationwide on short notice. It was a triumphant moment for Obama and U.S. security forces, particularly an intelligence community that has been maligned for its failure to head off the 2001 attacks and subsequent breakdowns in cohesion. "On nights like this one, we can say to those families who lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror: justice has been done," Obama declared. He called bin Laden a mass murderer and said that "his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and dignity." As he spoke, top officials including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CIA Director Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen looked on in the East Room. "For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda's leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies," Obama said. "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda." The president described the intelligence process that culminated in acquiring actionable information on bin Laden's whereabouts in recent months. "Last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden," Obama said. "It was far from certain. And it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we could locate bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside Pakistan." According to senior administration officials, Obama chaired five National Security Council meetings in recent months, with the two most recent ones on April 19 and April 28, before giving the order Friday -- a day he spent in Alabama visiting storm-damaged areas of the state -- to proceed with the mission. Last week, Obama said, "I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice." "Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan," the president continued. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight they killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body." Senior administration officials told reporters on condition of not being identified that the surgical strike involved a helicopter raid on the heavily secured compound that lasted less than 40 minutes. The U.S. forces engaged in a firefight with bin Laden and others that killed five people -- bin Laden, three male accomplices and a woman whom one of the male combatants used as a human shield, the officials said. One U.S. helicopter crashed due to a mechanical problem and was destroyed, the officials added. In his remarks, Obama recounted the 2001 terrorist attacks, referring to the clear blue skies that day and the horror of planes slamming into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He also spoke of families who lost loved ones that day, the intelligence community that finally tracked bin Laden down, and "the men who carried out this operation." "It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history," Obama said. "The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction." He went on to describe the worst images -- "those that were unseen to the world." "The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child's embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts," Obama said. "Tonight we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who have worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome," Obama said. "The American people do not see their work nor know their names, but tonight they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice." Thanking the U.S. forces in Sunday's operation, Obama said they "exemplify the professionalism, patriotism and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of burden since that September day." "Let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11, that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores," he said. "And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people." Obama also repeated the longstanding U.S. contention that originated with former President George W. Bush after the 2001 attacks that the fight against al Qaeada was not a war against Islam. "I've made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam," Obama said. "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries including our own."

President Obama tells the nation that a U.S. operation killed Osama bin Laden . Obama: Bin Laden's death should be welcomed "by all who believe in peace and dignity" The president reiterates that the U.S. war against al Qaeda is not a war on Islam .

(CNN) -- Even by dramatic jailbreak standards, this escape was particularly brazen. Two men posing as tourists reportedly commandeered a helicopter from a Canadian tour company, ordered the pilot to fly over a detention center near Montreal, hoisted two inmates using cables or ropes into the hovering aircraft -- and zipped away. All in broad daylight. All in full view of incredulous witnesses. It was a real "James Bond moment," witness Francis Emond told CNN affiliate CTV about Sunday's escape from the correctional facility in Saint -Jerome, about half-hour northwest of Montreal. But despite the movie-worthy getaway, the prisoners' freedom didn't last long. By early Monday morning, authorities arrested both inmates and two other people. Sky's no limit: 5 epic helicopter prison escapes . A pilot roped into the plot? Authorities have not yet said how long they believe the plot had been percolating. But it was put into play early Sunday afternoon. The helicopter belonged to a tour company in Mont-Tremblant, a city in Quebec about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Montreal. Two men posing as tourists hired the chopper for a tour, said a reporter from LCN television network who said he knows the pilot. Once they were in the air, the men held a gun to the pilot's head and reportedly ordered him to fly to Saint-Jerome. Quebec provincial police spokesman Benoit Richard would not comment on the reports. Reaction time 'probably too slow' Once at the detention center, the helicopter hovered as two inmates climbed aboard using cables or ropes lowered for them, police said. Slack-jawed prison guards watched as the helicopter then spirited away as two of their prisoners clung on. One of them, police said, was 36-year-old Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau who had beaten a double murder conviction on an appeal. But he was in prison in connection with an attempted murder investigation. The other, 33-year-old Danny Provencal, was serving a seven-year sentence for various offenses, including arson, police said. The prison, which houses 480 inmates, knows how to handle the expected. About a month ago, it quelled a riot before it got out of hand. But, Yves Galarneau, the deputy director general of Correctional Services Western Quebec, said he'd never seen anything like this escape in his three-decade-long career. "The reaction time was probably too slow," he told reporters, adding that everything happened very quickly. Galarneau also acknowledged the jail did not have security protocol in place to prevent a helicopter from swooping in. "As far as I know, it's a first in Quebec," he told reporters at the scene. "It's exceptional." A manhunt for the fugitives followed. Calls to a station . Adding an extra layer of audacity to an already extraordinary caper, a man claiming to be Hudon-Barbeau called a Montreal radio station to say he'd been shot in the calf during the escape -- and to justify his departure. "I don't want to cause any harm to anybody. I am not a killer. I never did anything bad to an innocent," the man told 98.5 FM. "I know that (the escape) wasn't the best thing to do, but I didn't want to stay in prison anymore. I am ready to die." The man then said the escape was Provencal's idea. "It was not my idea to get away but Danny convinced me it was his friends who arranged it outside," the man said. Chopper found . Authorities found the chopper back in Mont-Tremblant, where the flight originated. The pilot was inside but the men had fled. The pilot was taken to a hospital for a medical assessment and later for questioning. Police later said they had ruled him out as a suspect. The men, meanwhile, escaped in a white Cadillac Escalade -- with police on their tail. A short-lived breakout . Authorities tracked the SUV to the town of Chersey, about 50 minutes north of Saint-Jerome. The men got out of the vehicle there and began shooting, said Richard, the police spokesman. Police shot back, he said, but no one was injured. LCN, the television station, showed images of a cottage where the men were believed to be hiding. Outside, the white Cadillac stood, its driver's side door open. Six hours after the escape, police arrested three men. One of them was Hudon-Barbeau. Police did not release the names of the other two. But Provencal was still missing. Several hours would go by before he too was in custody. Police found him holed up inside a sugar shack in the same city. He eventually surrendered early Monday morning. All four men will appear in a court in Saint-Jerome Monday to face charges. Escapes not unheard of . While spectacular, airborne escapes are not unheard of. Albanian inmate Alket Rizaj broke out of a maximum security prison in Greece twice -- in 2006 and 2009. On both occasions, accomplices swooped in to the prison's courtyard on helicopters and inmates climbed aboard using rope ladders. Both times, Rizaj was recaptured. Last month, another prison escape in Greece tried to use the same tactic. But the plot was foiled when the prisoner was shot and the chopper was forced to land on the prison parking lot. In 1971, Joel David Kaplan escaped from a Mexican jail aboard a helicopter. The New Yorker's flight inspired the book "The 10-Second Jailbreak: The Helicopter Escape of Joel David Kaplan" and the 1975 movie "Breakout." And in France, Pascal Payet escaped not once, not twice but three times from French prisons. Each time, he was recaptured. Fleeing to the sky: 5 epic helicopter prison escapes . CNN's Susan Candiotti, Ross Levitt, Paula Newton, Alexander Hunter and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

NEW: Police say there was shootout with the suspects, but no one was injured . It was a real "James Bond moment," a witness says . By early Monday, both inmates had been captured . "It's a first in Quebec," a correction officer says .

(CNN) -- Earlier this month, an AeroMexico plane made an important flight from Mexico City to Madrid. The flight wasn't notable for who was inside the cabin, but for what was inside the fuel tank: it was the world's first transatlantic commercial flight using biofuel. The engines on that flight were powered by a fuel mixture that was 30% biofuel from the jatropha plant, and the trip followed a pair of Mexican domestic commercial flights by Interjet that used the same formula. Mexico is known for its oil production, but it could be its less obvious flats of arid and marginal land that will be the future of Mexico's energy resources. The country has quietly positioned itself to become a potential leader in biofuel production as scientists develop a second generation of fuels derived from sources that don't compete for arable land or with food. Jatropha-based biofuels are being increasingly used in Mexico, and agave -- the plant from which tequila is made -- is being studied as a new source for ethanol. But some observers warn that Mexico's cumbersome land laws make it too hard to purchase the land needed for cultivation at competitive prices. Some biofuels, such as ethanol derived from corn and sugar, can indirectly raise the prices of staple foods in many places, along with raising ethical issues, said Gilberto Lopez Meyer, director of Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA), the Mexican government agency that oversaw the biofuel flights. So in 2007, Mexico, along with 14 other member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization, committed to developing new strategies for second-generation biofuels that would not affect food production. "We returned to Mexico with a mission," Lopez told CNN. Lopez's agency teamed up with the state of Chiapas, where Gov. Juan Sabines had already made a name for himself pushing his state toward alternative fuels. Chiapas began cultivating jatropha, whose seeds contain oil that can be extracted and converted into biofuel. The state already uses a jatropha biofuel mix on its buses and trucks, and President Felipe Calderon was on hand in November of last year to inaugurate a biodiesal plant there. ASA partnered with American company UOP, which refined the Chiapas jatropha into jet fuel. When the standards for biofuel use in commercial flights was approved July 1, Mexico was ready to make the domestic Interjet and international AeroMexico flights a possibility. The goal of ASA, which provides almost 100% of the jet fuel in Mexico, is to commercialize and distribute biofuels, Lopez said. "We've been working on this project as part of a global effort to combat climate change," he said. By 2015, the goal is to have 1% of all jet fuel in Mexico be biofuel, and by 2020, 15%, he said. "This is a huge goal," Lopez said. "One percent doesn't sound like a lot, but it equals more than 40 million liters (10.6 million gallons)." Mexico has several things in its favor to become a leader in biofuels, he said. It has plenty of land not being used for food, it has a high demand for energy, and it is located next door to the energy-hungry United States. "Mexico has made the very important first step to be in a very priviledged place," Lopez said. Halfway across the world, researchers at Oxford recently published a study extolling the benefits that ethanol derived from agave. Agave can grow in arid land, and produces less than half of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by corn-based ethanol, Oliver Inderwildi, one of the study's authors, told CNN. Sugar-based ethanol produces even less emissions, but it needs arable land for cultivation. "We need every space we can get, every arable land, for food," Inderwildi said. "We think agave may be one part of the solution." For their study, the researchers did a life-cycle analysis for the production of ethanol based on a hypothetical plant in Jalisco, Mexico, where 90% of tequila is produced. Potentially, agave plantations could boost local economies and create jobs, Inderwildi said. Mexico, the native home of agave plants, stands to benefit if such an ethanol industry takes off. Food prices would be spared, but would drinkers have to pay more for their margaritas and tequila shots? The tequila business is very small compared to the fuel business, and is also more expensive than fuel ethanol, so Inderwildi predicts that alcohol prices would remain stable. And unlike tequila, which requires the harvesting of the agave stem only, ethanol production would also require harvesting the leaves of the plant. "Our study backs up that this is a good idea from an environmental perspective," he said. The catch, for now, is that neither jatropha or agave biofuel production is cost-effective. But technological advances and oil prices make such alternatives more desirable. When that tipping point comes, Mexico will be ready, the experts said. But James Row, CEO of Houston-based Producers Energy and part owner of a Mexican-based biodiesel company, told CNN that Mexico is still far from being an ideal place to produce biofuels. "Mexico is absolutely a perfect country for biodiesel, especially if it can be domestically grown," he said, but the country's ejido system -- collectively-held land in rural areas -- creates hurdles for private investment. The result is difficulty in finding continuous large areas of rural land that can be negotiated for use for cultivation, or high prices that make it cost prohibitive. Without land reform, issues with land availability will continue, and Mexico will fall a decade or more behind other countries in the biofuels sector, Row said. The demand is there, the land is there, but there is no way to get it, he said. "Now is the time for Mexico to get its act together for biofuels," he said.

Mexico has quietly positioned itself as a potential biofuels leader . It oversaw the first transatlantic commercial flight using biofuel . The agave plant also has potential for the country . Without land reform, private investment in sector is tough .

(CNN) -- Sandbag walls were beginning to rise Tuesday across parts of the Midwest against what the National Weather Service warned could be record flooding in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys over the next week. Widespread major flooding is expected in parts of southern Missouri, southern Illinois, Indiana, western Kentucky, northern Arkansas and parts of Oklahoma, said Noreen Schwein, deputy for hydrologic services at the National Weather Service's central region headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Already, governors in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky have declared emergencies, as have local officials in several counties. National Guard troops are on the job in Missouri and Indiana shoring up levees and stacking sandbags. Indiana also sent 80 prison inmates to the southwestern part of the state, where record flooding was already reported in Gibson County. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn sent 125 members of the Guard to Marion to assist the response in the southern part of the state. Calls for volunteers to help with sandbagging efforts were going out across the region. Clifton Gentry of Jackson, Missouri, was planning to head to the small community of Dutchtown, Missouri, with his church group Tuesday night to help residents there fill and stack sandbags. "There's a gas station and probably two, three dozen homes that will be under water tomorrow if something doesn't change," Gentry said. "It's basically just the simple fact that we're told to help those in need, and if I was in that kind of situation I would hope someone would help me." A levee in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, failed on Tuesday, city and county officials said, sending water flooding into a rural but populated area of Butler County, causing the evacuation of more than 6,000 people. People in the area were asked to leave "as soon as possible," Butler County Sheriff's Detective Scott Phelps said. A levee protecting Bell City, Missouri, also failed, said Dale Moreland, public information officer for the Stoddard County Emergency Management Agency. Bell City schools let out early Tuesday because buses will likely not be able to navigate flooded roads later in the day, Moreland said. Up to 1,200 people south and east of Bell City faced possible evacuation later Tuesday. The breach was 95 feet wide and 6 to 8 feet deep. About 25 to 30 residences in in the county were affected by the water and a dozen people have been rescued since Monday, according to Moreland. A levee also failed in nearby Scott County, Moreland said. Missouri's attorney general turned to a federal court Tuesday to stop a federal plan to blow a levee to ease pressure on the flood-engorged Mississippi River. James Pogue, chief spokesman in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Memphis office, said the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway is a "safety valve" in the current crisis affecting several states along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. In Paducah, Kentucky, where forecasters are predicting the Ohio River will rise more than it has in at least 61 years, garbage collection was temporarily suspended because every available worker was installing floodgates before the Ohio River rises too high to contain. "We are putting all our resources on this catastrophe," City Engineer Rick Murphy said. Crews were also working to build a steel barrier and extend a levee around the city's convention center, which was at risk of being flooded. The National Weather Service forecast the Ohio River at Paducah to rise to 55 feet by May 3, 16 feet above flood stage and two feet above the high water mark in 1950. Paducah resident Jennie Bell, a CNN iReporter, said heavy rains and river water are already covering some streets, including the road she normally uses to drive her daughter to school. "It's getting hard to get around," she said. In Clark County, Indiana, flooding has forced some people from their homes in the city of Utica and other nearby communities. Some residents have been evacuated. Others are waiting to see what happens, said Phyllis Wilkins, executive director of the Clark County chapter of the American Red Cross. "There's a lot of U-Haul trailers sitting in driveways ready to go, people sitting on porches watching the waters rise," she said. "Of course, these are people who've lived on the river for a long time so they're used to that routine." Record or near-record floods are expected from Smithland, Kentucky, to Cairo, Illinois, on the Ohio River and then south to New Madrid, Missouri, downstream from the juncture of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, Schwein said. If predictions are correct, the flooding could surpass records set in a mighty flood that inundated the region in 1937. The Weather Service said the Ohio River at Cairo would crest at 61 feet on May 3, 21 feet above flood stage and 18 inches higher than the 1937 mark. The Mississippi River is forecast to top flood stage as far south as Reserve, Louisiana, according to the agency. The National Weather Service said snow melt from the upper Midwest and rapid runoff from as much as a foot of rain in Mississippi and Ohio river valley states is contributing to the flooding. Three to 5 inches of additional rain expected in the next two days is built into the flooding forecast, Schwein said. Another bulge of water from melting snow is working its way down the Mississippi River now, Schwein said. The bulge, currently in Iowa, will extend the flooding but is not expected to increase crest levels, she said. Springdale, Arkansas, received 17 inches of rain between Friday and midmorning Tuesday. Poplar Bluff, Missouri, saw just shy of 13 inches. Arkansas' Fayetteville and Eureka Springs received more than 12 inches. The total for Carbondale, Illinois, was 8.64 inches and Paducah, Kentucky, was at 8.24 inches. CNN's Phil Gast contributed to this report.

Red Cross official: "There's a lot of U-Haul trailers sitting in driveways ready to go" Forecaster: Flooding in Kentucky and Missouri could eclipse records set in 1937 . Illinois and Kentucky governors warn of the potential for "historic flooding" Police evacuate parts of Butler County, Missouri, after a levee breaks there .

(CNN) -- In 2004, a bullet ripped away Connie Culp's nose, cheeks and upper jaw. Metal fragments sprayed into her skull and stripped her face away, leaving nothing except for her eyes, her chin and forehead. Culp, an Ohio mother of two, lost the mid-portion of her face after a gunshot wound in September 2004. Without her nose, she could not smell. She breathed through a tracheostomy -- a surgical opening in her neck. Without lips, she could barely speak. But Tuesday, when Culp, 46, the first recipient of a face transplant in the United States, stepped in front of the cameras at a news conference, she was whole. In a soft voice, the Ohio mother of two repeatedly thanked the medical staff and the deceased donor whose nose, upper lip, cheekbones are now hers. "I want to focus on the donor family that allowed me to have this Christmas present," she told reporters gathered at the Cleveland Clinic, where her surgery took place. Watch Culp talk about the surgery » . In December, Culp underwent a 22-hour transplant surgery. Although the hospital announced the facial transplant at that time, the patient had remained anonymous until the news conference. During the surgery, tissue from a deceased donor's face was shaped and fitted into position. Multiple layers of tissue, bone, muscle and blood vessels, nerve grafts and each artery and vein were connected. Culp received a nose, lower eyelids and upper lips, as doctors filled in the missing components of her face. Culp could not yet move her facial muscles to form a smile, but she laughed. "Well, I got me my nose." she quipped. Two months after the surgery, Culp was discharged from the hospital and returned home. Before the surgery, Culp could not eat solid foods. She could not taste. "Connie can now enjoy her food," said Dr. Maria Siemionow, who led the transplant operation. "She eats hamburgers and enjoys her pizzas, she's drinking coffee from the cup." Her new face allows her to "blend with society." "As you can see we have now a healthy person and happy person," Siemionow said. "She has reduced dramatically her pain and also she's able to walk on the street without being called names." Since the operation, doctors say Culp's new face has developed more movement. The new facial nerves are growing slowly, about an inch a month. See before and after photos of Connie Culp » . "While Connie can do several things now that she was unable to do in the past, as time goes on more and more of the facial nerves will grow," said Dr. Frank Papay, chairman of the Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. "She will become more animated." For years, Culp lived "in tremendous pain, chronic pain, over the entire time," said Siemionow, director of plastic face transplant surgery research and head of microsurgery training at the hospital. Culp told a local television station in a 2008 interview that she had been shot in the face from just eight feet away in an attempted murder-suicide by her husband. In 2005, Culp came to the Cleveland Clinic for treatment. After 30 surgical procedures, none had restored her basic functions. "The last resort and the last option was to consider face transplantation," said Siemionow. Transplant recipients have to take immunosuppressing, anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life. After the hospital's surgeons, ethical committee members, psychiatry and psychology specialists met with Culp, they decided "that Connie is the right patient," Siemionow said. Doctors involved in Culp's treatment said the surgery was not about aesthetics, but to restore Culp's basic abilities. "We are actually overwhelmed by how great she's doing functionally," Siemionow said. "And I'm re-emphasizing that this is all about functional outcome. Someone who couldn't breathe through the nose, who couldn't eat solid foods, didn't have a palate or not able to drink from a cup. ... So if she can do all these functions that are taken for granted on a daily basis, this is amazing." Although there is a risk Culp's body could still reject the transplant, the doctors said they have not seen such signs. Some critics say face transplants are unnecessary, because they are risky procedures involving a lifetime of immunosuppressants, that do not save a person's life, but improve an individual's appearance. Previous face transplants performed in Europe and Asia generated controversy. A Chinese man whose face was disfigured in a bear attack died of unknown causes two years after receiving the face transplant. The fact that Culp regained some of her basic functions highlights that "this is not cosmetic surgery in any sense of the word," said Dr. Eric Kodish, the professor and chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's Department of Bioethics. "We remain convinced about the ethical justification for the face transplant in this and potentially in other cases in the future." Ultimately, the face transplant affords an individual's "right to decide what kind of life they want to live." Many with facial disfigurements are called names, can't go out in public or wear masks to hide their face, said Siemionow. In Culp's case, it was a matter of restoring basic physical abilities. "If you can breathe through your nose in the spring in Cleveland, isn't that amazing?" said Siemionow. Culp will require a few more cosmetic procedures, for example to remove excess skin from her face. Culp read a statement and did not take questions. She told reporters in the news conference that she had been shot and said, "I don't want to go into it." Then she asked the public to have empathy for people with facial disfigurements. "When somebody don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them," she said. "You don't know what might happen to you. Don't judge the people who don't look the same way as you do. You never know when it may be taken away from you."

An Ohio woman who suffered gunshot wound is first U.S. face transplant recipient . Connie Culp regained breathing and speaking ability after transplant . Doctors say she has shown major medical improvements .

Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court made it harder Wednesday for foreign victims of torture and other crimes against humanity to press their legal claims against corporations and others in U.S. federal courts. The outcome could have significant global impact from a moral, political and financial perspective. At issue is the scope of a federal law that is increasingly being used in an effort to hold those accountable for human rights atrocities committed overseas. A dozen Nigerian political activists now living under asylum in the United States say foreign oil companies were complicit in violence at the hands of their former country's military. Their decade-old civil damages lawsuits have been blocked from going to trial in American courts. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the unanimous court, said acts committed on foreign soil by foreign entities against foreign citizens typically cannot be resolved in American courts. "On these facts, all the relevant conduct took place outside the United States," he said. "Corporations are often present in many countries, and it would reach too far to say that mere corporate presence suffices" to press these kinds of legal claims. The Obama administration is siding partly with the foreign businesses. The justices first heard the case in February 2012, trying to sort out whether individuals alone -- or political groups and corporations also -- are covered by broad civil immunity for alleged international law abuses. Then the court then took on another more fundamental question: whether the 1789 federal law can be applied to any conduct committed entirely outside the United States. Roberts, in his opinion, noted a ruling for the foreign plaintiffs could affect Americans living, working or traveling overseas. "Accepting petitioners' view would imply that other nations, also applying the law of nations, could hale our citizens into their courts for alleged violations of the law of nations occurring in the United States, or anywhere else in the world," Roberts said. "The presumption against extraterritoriality guards against our courts triggering such serious foreign policy consequences, and instead defers such decisions, quite appropriately, to the political branches." The human rights appeal was filed on behalf of residents of the oil-abundant Ogoni area of the Niger River Delta. Two decades ago, they protested the longstanding environmental harm that Shell and other energy companies caused by extracting petroleum. They and their families say the Nigerian government brutally suppressed them, "aided and abetted" by private corporations doing business there. The Ogoni 9, as the key leaders became known, were allegedly detained, tortured and tried by a special Nigerian military tribunal, in violation of international human rights treaties. The Nigerian government's 1993-1995 crackdown sparked global outrage after author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists were convicted, then hanged. Among those bringing suit is his nephew, Charles Wiwa, who escaped the oppression and now lives in Chicago as a political refugee. He described being a student activist beaten by soldiers for hours in front of a crowd of onlookers, then detained and tortured for days. He says that Shell, based in the Netherlands and Britain, conspired with the government to keep its business operations going in the face of protests and should be held accountable for ignoring or encouraging a pattern of killings, rapes, beatings and property destruction. He said the United States is only place to obtain justice. "Nigeria's dictatorship has grown rich from its oil," Wawa told CNN. "It is important those (oil) companies be held responsible, because we cannot bring any legal action in courts in Nigeria." The U.S. law in question is the Alien Tort Statute, which gives federal courts jurisdiction over civil claims from foreigners that they were harmed by international law violations. It was largely ignored for decades but has become an important legal vehicle for those bringing human rights claims. Similar lawsuits involve Chevron and Exxon energy operations in Indonesia; Chiquita Brand fruit farms in Colombia; and businesses that operated years ago in the now-outlawed apartheid system in South Africa. "Shell remains firmly committed to supporting fundamental human rights in line with the legitimate role of business and I want to make clear that we deny, in the strongest possible terms, the allegations made by the plaintiffs in this tragic case," said Peter Rees, Shell's legal director, in response to the ruling. "Today's decision doesn't weaken the human rights of people around the world; it makes it clear that the Alien Tort Statute does not provide a means for claims to be brought in the U.S. which have nothing to do with the U.S." But a range of human rights groups said they were "deeply disappointed." "Today's decision moves one step closer to shutting the court room doors to victims of war crimes and torture," said the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. However, the organization said, "This ruling is not a grant of immunity from liability." The high court in 2004 endorsed the use of the statute in question, but only in limited circumstances. Wednesday's decision reinforced that approach. But the four more liberal justices, while agreeing with the court's conclusion, differed on the reasoning behind it. Justice Stephen Breyer suggested that the Alien Tort Statute should continue to have some strong enforcement application. "International norms have long included a duty not to permit a nation to become a safe harbor for pirates (or their equivalent)," he said, citing past Supreme Court cases. "This approach would avoid placing the statute's jurisdictional scope at odds with its substantive objectives, holding out 'the word of promise' of compensation for victims of the torturer." The civil lawsuits in the international law context have been compared to a separate, high-profile domestic political dispute. The high court in 2010 concluded that corporations -- businesses, unions and issue advocacy groups -- enjoy the same free speech rights as individuals when it comes to independent election spending. Now the issue in part was whether corporations and political entities should be treated the same as individual offenders when it comes to enforcing international human rights. The current case is Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (10-1491).

Lawsuits accused foreign oil companies of being complicit in violence against Nigerians . In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court says a federal law doesn't apply in this case . Chief justice: Ruling for plaintiffs could affect Americans living, working or traveling overseas . NEW: Shell says ruling doesn't weaken human rights but rights advocates disappointed .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday will officially suspend her campaign for the presidency and "express her support for Senator Obama and party unity," her campaign said Wednesday. Sen. Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she will let her supporters and party leaders decide her course. The Clinton campaign said she will make the announcement at "an event in Washington, D.C.," where she will also thank her supporters. Sen. Barack Obama and Clinton were in Washington on Wednesday to each address the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The candidates ran into each other at the AIPAC conference and had a brief chat, Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass said. "She's an extraordinary leader of the Democratic Party and has made history alongside me over the last 16 months. I'm very proud to have competed against her," Obama told the Israel lobbying group. Obama became his party's presumptive nominee Tuesday and will be looking to unite Democrats divided by the long and contentious primary season. "I am very confident how unified the Democratic Party is going to be to win in November," he said in a Senate hallway Wednesday. iReport.com: Obama/Clinton -- dream team or nightmare? Some say that putting Clinton on the ticket might fit the bill for uniting Democrats. Clinton lavished her opponent with praise Tuesday, saying he ran an "extraordinary race" and made politics more palatable for many. Watch how the primary played out » . Prominent Clinton backer Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, thinks the New York senator could have been "far more generous" during her speech Tuesday night after it was clear that Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination. Rangel, the senior member of the New York congressional delegation and an early supporter of Clinton's presidential campaign, said Wednesday that Clinton should have been more clear about what her plans are. "I would agree that after the math was in before her speech, that she could have been far more generous in terms of being more specific and saying that she wants a Democratic victory," Rangel said on MSNBC. "I don't see what they're talking about in prolonging this," Rangel added. "There's nothing to prolong if you're not going to take the fight to the convention floor. ... I don't know why she could not have been more open in terms of doing up front what she intends to do later." But with some Democrats clamoring for her to join Obama on the ticket, and with the Democratic National Convention -- and thus, the official anointment -- still more than two months out, the senator from New York gave no hint as to her plans. See VP prospects' pros, cons » . She again invoked the popular vote, saying she snared "more votes than any primary candidate in history," but primaries come down to delegates, and according to CNN calculations, Obama has her beaten, 2,156 to 1,923. Even the White House seemed convinced of Obama's victory. White House press secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday that President Bush congratulated Obama on becoming the first black nominee from a major party. She said his win shows that the United States "has come a long way." Clinton vowed to keep fighting for an end to the war in Iraq, for universal health care, for a stronger economy and better energy policy, but she didn't indicate in what capacity she would wage these battles. That, she said, would be up to her supporters and the party brass. See what lies in store this fall » . The party's best interests were high on the minds of party leaders Wednesday, as Sen. Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean called on Democrats to focus on the general election. "To that end, we are urging all remaining uncommitted superdelegates to make their decisions known by Friday of this week so that our party can stand united and begin our march toward reversing the eight years of failed Bush/McCain policies that have weakened our country," said a statement from the four. Billionaire businessman Bob Johnson, a close Clinton adviser and friend, said on CNN's "American Morning" on Wednesday that Obama could best forge party unity by offering Clinton the vice presidential slot. A day after the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Johnson sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn to lobby the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Clinton as Obama's running mate. Saying Clinton would "entertain the idea if it's offered," Johnson said, "This is Sen. Obama's decision. If the Congress members can come together and agree as I do that it would be in the best interest of the party to have Sen. Clinton on the ticket, they carry that petition to Sen. Obama." Watch how the world reacted to Obama's win » . "This is not a pressure. This is elected officials giving their best judgment," said Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television. Johnson's letter to Clyburn says, "You know as well as I the deep affection that millions of African-Americans hold for both Senator Clinton and President Clinton." It continues, "But most important, we need to have the certainty of winning; and, I believe, without question, that Barack Obama as president and Hillary Clinton as vice president bring that certainty to the ticket." Watch Johnson urge Obama to pick Clinton » . Johnson is one of many influential Clinton supporters who have raised the prospect of her joining Obama on the ticket. They say she has solid credentials and wide appeal, exemplified by her popular support in states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio, which will be crucial to a Democratic victory in the fall. Obama and Clinton spoke by phone for a few minutes Wednesday. He told her he wants to "sit down when it makes sense" for her, said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. Clinton said that would happen soon, Gibbs said, but he also said Obama did not raise the issue of the vice presidency. Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe confirmed that there had been "absolutely zero discussions" on the matter. The Clinton campaign issued a statement saying she was open to becoming vice president. "She would do whatever she could to ensure that Democrats take the White House back and defeat John McCain," the statement said. CNN's Alexander Mooney and Ed Hornick contributed to this report.

NEW: Clinton will suspend presidential campaign Saturday, sources say . Obama, Clinton spoke by phone Wednesday, but VP slot was not discussed . Rangel says Clinton could've been "far more generous" on Tuesday night . Obama says he's "very confident" he can unite Democrats by November .

(CNN) -- Late one afternoon in the summer of 2006, I found myself in a small village in northern Vietnam, sitting around a sooty kitchen fire with a number of local women whose language I did not speak, trying to ask them questions about marriage. For several months already, I had been traveling across Southeast Asia with a man who was soon to become my husband. I suppose the conventional term for such an individual would be "fiancé," but neither one of us was very comfortable with that word, so we weren't using it. In fact, neither one of us was very comfortable with this whole idea of matrimony at all. Marriage was not something we had ever planned with each other, nor was it something either of us wanted. Yet providence had interfered with our plans, which was why we were now wandering haphazardly across Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia, all the while making urgent -- even desperate -- efforts to return to America and wed. The man in question had been my lover, my sweetheart, for over two years by then, and in these pages I shall call him Felipe. Felipe is a kind, affectionate Brazilian gentleman, 17 years my senior, whom I'd met on another journey (an actual planned journey) that I'd taken around the world a few years earlier in an effort to mend a severely broken heart. Near the end of those travels, I'd encountered Felipe, who had been living quietly and alone in Bali for years, nursing his own broken heart. What had followed was attraction, then a slow courtship, and then, much to our mutual wonderment, love. Our resistance to marriage, then, had nothing to do with an absence of love. On the contrary, Felipe and I loved each other unreservedly. We were happy to make all sorts of promises to stay together faithfully forever. We had even sworn lifelong fidelity to each other already, although quite privately. The problem was that the two of us were both survivors of bad divorces, and we'd been so badly gutted by our experiences that the very idea of legal marriage -- with anyone, even with such nice people as each other -- filled us with a heavy sense of dread. As a rule, of course, most divorces are pretty bad (Rebecca West observed that "getting a divorce is nearly always as cheerful and useful an occupation as breaking very valuable china"), and our divorces had been no exception. On the mighty cosmic one-to-10 Scale of Divorce Badness (where one equals an amicably executed separation, and 10 equals . . . well, an actual execution), I would probably rate my own divorce as something like a 7.5. No suicides or homicides had resulted, but aside from that, the rupture had been about as ugly a proceeding as two otherwise well-mannered people could have possibly manifested. And it had dragged on for more than two years. As for Felipe, his first marriage (to an intelligent, professional Australian woman) had ended almost a decade before we'd met in Bali. His divorce had unfolded graciously enough at the time, but losing his wife (and access to the house and kids and almost two decades of history that came along with her) had inflicted on this good man a lingering legacy of sadness, with special emphases on regret, isolation and economic anxiety. Our experiences, then, had left the two of us taxed, troubled and decidedly suspicious of the joys of holy wedded matrimony. Like anyone who has ever walked through the valley of the shadow of divorce, Felipe and I had each learned firsthand this distressing truth: that every intimacy carries, secreted somewhere below its initial lovely surfaces, the ever-coiled makings of complete catastrophe. We had also learned that marriage is an estate that is very much easier to enter than it is to exit. Unfenced by law, the unmarried lover can quit a bad relationship at any time. But you -- the legally married person who wants to escape doomed love -- may soon discover that a significant portion of your marriage contract belongs to the state, and that it sometimes takes a very long while for the state to grant you your leave. Thus, you can feasibly find yourself trapped for months or even years in a loveless legal bond that has come to feel rather like a burning building. A burning building in which you, my friend, are handcuffed to a radiator somewhere down in the basement, unable to wrench yourself free, while the smoke billows forth and the rafters are collapsing. ... I'm sorry -- does all this sound unenthusiastic? I share these unpleasant thoughts only to explain why Felipe and I had made a rather unusual pact with each other, right from the beginning of our love story. We had sworn with all our hearts to never, ever, under any circumstances, marry. We had even promised never to blend together our finances or our worldly assets, in order to avoid the potential nightmare of ever again having to divvy up an explosive personal munitions dump of shared mortgages, deeds, property, bank accounts, kitchen appliances and favorite books. These promises having been duly pledged, the two of us proceeded forth into our carefully partitioned companionship with a real sense of calmness. For just as a sworn engagement can bring to so many other couples a sensation of encircling protection, our vow never to marry had cloaked the two of us in all the emotional security we required in order to try once more at love. And this commitment of ours -- consciously devoid of official commitment -- felt miraculous in its liberation. It felt as though we had found the Northwest Passage of Perfect Intimacy -- something that, as García Márquez wrote, "resembled love, but without the problems of love." So that's what we'd been doing up until the spring of 2006: minding our own business, building a delicately divided life together in unfettered contentment. And that is very well how we might have gone on living happily ever after, except for one terribly inconvenient interference. The United States Department of Homeland Security got involved.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of "Eat, Pray, Love," a huge bestseller . New book chronicles her love affair with and marriage to man she met in Indonesia . The couple swore not to marry, but was "sentenced to wed" due to his immigration problems . Author decided to get over her fear of marriage by researching the institution .

(CNN) -- The battle raging over President Obama's health care plan has spread from across the aisles in Congress to across the country. A Tampa, Florida, health care reform meeting sparks noisy exchanges between attendees. Senators this week joined their colleagues from the House at town hall meetings as they spent their August recess in their home districts. But disruptive protests are turning town hall meetings into shouting matches and drowning out discussion over what is and isn't in health care plans in the House and Senate. Videos of the protests have been circulating on the Internet, showing raucous crowds heckling their congressmen, and carrying posters with devil horns drawn on lawmakers' heads, swastikas or Obama with Adolf Hitler's mustache. Read more about the proposed plans » . Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, who had a town hall meeting disrupted by angry protesters earlier this month, said he had never experienced such emotion in his 15 years of holding such forums. Democratic Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina even had a death threat phoned into his office. A caller said that if Miller supported Obama's plan, it could cost him his life, Miller told CNN. "Of course we want a full debate. Of course we want people who have dissenting views from the administration and Congress to have a full hearing. But that's not what this is about. That's not the intent of most of these people. It's not the way the press is covering it," Mark Halperin, editor-at-large and senior political analyst for TIME magazine, said on CNN's "Reliable Sources." The protesters' gimmicks, Halperin said, are grabbing the public and media's attention, and valid arguments over the cost and content of the proposals are being put on the back burner. "There needs to be a debate in America on whether we should have universal health care. There needs to be a debate on the president's ideas. If these protesters have ideas, great. Let's hear them. But if they're just stunts to cause a disruption that gets the media tripped in every time, again, I think it's bad for the country whether you want the president's plan or not," he said. Watch what Halperin says about the town hall turmoil » . Obama's health care battle has been compared to former President Bill Clinton's failed effort more than 15 years ago, but CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said the climate toward health care reform was actually more negative back then. Clinton's plan had less public support than Obama's, and Clinton himself was less popular than Obama, Schneider said. Clinton's plan also barely got off the ground when it went to Congress, and Obama's proposals have already been through a few congressional committees. So why didn't lawmakers experience the same backlash during the Clinton years? "Three reasons," Schneider said. First of all, "the calendar." Clinton proposed his plan in September 1993, and by the time Congress went on recess in August of the following year, the plan was dead. Learn more about global health care systems » . Secondly, people didn't use the Internet the way they use it today, "so you didn't have the viral communications that rally people to attend town halls." And finally, experience. "Conservatives are emboldened by what happened to the Clinton plan. They want to relive 1994," Schneider said. Democrats have accused conservative groups of manufacturing the outrage, while others say the uproar is a reflection of the opposition to Obama's plans. "These are average Americans that are concerned about this long litany of borrowing and spending and bailouts and government takeover of one industry after another. And this government takeover of health care is just the last straw for many Americans," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, told "Fox News" on Monday. As the emotion has intensified, misinformation has spread about what is and isn't in current health care proposals. "People are just getting information that's flat wrong," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, told CNN on Monday as a town hall meeting she held came to an end. One of the allegations that picked up traction in recent days is that Obama's plan encourages euthanasia. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fueled the charge on her Facebook page Friday, writing that "the sick, the elderly, and the disabled" would suffer as doctors have to "ration care." In her post, the former Republican vice presidential candidate said Obama's health care plan would create a "death panel" that would weigh whether her parents or son Trig were "worthy of health care." Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told CNN on Sunday that Palin had deliberately fabricated the charges. "About euthanasia, they're just totally erroneous. She just made that up," he said. "Just like the 'Bridge to Nowhere' that she supposedly didn't support. "There's nothing like euthanasia in the bill. I practiced medicine for a long time, and of course you have to have end-of-life discussions -- the patients want that. ... Euthanasia's not in this bill." McCaskill said she hoped Monday that she was able to correct some of false information out there. "The notion that I would ever, or that our government would ever do anything to cut short or dismiss the quality of life for our seniors is so offensive to me as an American. ... There's no rationing of health care that's being proposed for our elderly," she said. "Hopefully, I was able to reassure people that -- not in America. That's not going to happen." In his weekend radio address, Obama sought to dispel what he called "the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid or bring about a government takeover of health care. That's simply not true." The White House on Monday launched what it calls a Health Insurance Reform Reality Check Web site designed to combat what the administration considers misinformation about the issue. The Web page features Obama aides discussing various aspects of health care reform.

Town hall meetings across the country have turned into shouting matches . "Stunts" are taking the focus off the real debate, Mark Halperin says . "People are just getting information that's flat wrong," Sen. McCaskill says . Others defend outbursts as indication of opposition to Obama's plan .

(CNN) -- The debates this presidential primary season have been less like Lincoln-Douglas than former heavyweight champ Buster Douglas -- punch-drunk pugilism, providing entertainment and some great upsets along the way. But for all the excitement of the fights, there is a civic cost to the radioactive rhetoric that gets thrown out to excite the conservative crowds. It's not just that the most irresponsible candidates can play to the base and get a boost in the polls, while more sober-minded candidates like Jon Huntsman fail to get attention. The real damage is to the process of running for president itself. Because when low blows get rewarded, the incentive to try to emulate Lincoln -- holding yourself to a higher standard -- is diminished. And one barometer of this atmospheric shift is in the increasingly overheated rhetoric by candidates attacking the current president. This serial disrespect ends up unintentionally diminishing the office of president itself. Look, I know that politics is a full-contact sport: Elbows get thrown and egos get bruised. But ask yourself if Ronald Reagan ever called Jimmy Carter a socialist or a communist on the stump. Sure, there were deep philosophical and policy disagreements between them, and Carter was called a failed president many times. But there was a lingering respect for the office that retained an essential bit of dignity. It was only the far-right fringe who indulged in the kind of rhetoric we now hear routinely from presidential candidates. For example, Newt Gingrich gained steam early in the primary process by accusing President Obama of having a "Kenyan anti-Colonial mindset," and invoking the specter of a "Obama's secular socialist machine." As a highly compensated historian, Newt should have known better than to say that Obama is the "most radical president in American history." But then accuracy -- or even aiming in the general vicinity of the truth -- isn't the point. Rick Santorum raised eyebrows this past weekend for saying Obama wants to impose a "phony theology" on America. Santorum has since tried to clarify that he was not trying to raise doubts about the president's religion and I'll take him at his word. Likewise, when Santorum compares GOP primary voters to members of the "greatest generation" called to act against the rise of Nazi Germany, I'll assume that Santorum isn't intentionally comparing the president to Hitler. But a month ago, when a Santorum supporter accused Obama of being "an avowed Muslim" who "constantly says that our Constitution is passé" and "has no legal right to be calling himself president" -- Santorum did nothing to correct her. Instead, he told CNN: "I don't feel it's my obligation every time someone says something I don't agree with to contradict them." But I think standing up for the truth in the face of unhinged hate is part of a potential president's job. So did John McCain. Four years ago, at the height of the general election, when a supporter called then-candidate Obama an "Arab," McCain corrected her. He said, "No, ma'am. He's a decent family man ... (a) citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues." That's the voice of a loyal opposition, putting patriotism above partisanship. Even the sober-minded Mitt Romney has gotten into the hyper-partisan pandering game lately. Maybe he's trying to compensate for a lack of enthusiasm on the far-right with red meat rhetoric, but the effect is desperate. For example, when Mitt was barnstorming through Florida, a standard part of his stump speech was this: "Sometimes I think we have a president who doesn't understand America." This line was straight out of the "Alien in the White House" playbook, a riff that reinforced the worst impulses of some in the audience, as one woman at a Romney rally named Katheryn Sarka eagerly reaffirmed when I asked her what she thought of the line: "Obama doesn't understand America. He follows George Soros. Obama is against our Constitution and our democracy." After his big Nevada win, this line of Mitt's scripted victory speech stood out: "President Obama demonizes and denigrates almost every sector of our economy." Romney knows this isn't true, but he's been convinced that it works and he seems to be willing to say whatever it takes to make the sale. Here's what's most troubling about this trend: It doesn't seem remarkable anymore. For the candidates and many in the press, it is just the new normal, the cost of doing business. The overheated rhetoric simply reflects the conversation that's been going on at the grassroots for a long time. Like a frog in a slowly boiling pot of water, we don't realize that the heat is killing us until it is too late -- except that the casualty here is the quality of our civic debate and the bonds that are bigger than partisan politics. It's naïve to think it will stop when Mr. Obama is no longer president, whether that is in one year or five. Because the next Republican president will inherit the political atmosphere that's been created and find that it is almost impossible to unite the nation absent a crisis. Some Democratic activists will no doubt take a tactical page from recent conservative successes. This cycle of incitement -- where extremes inflame and empower each other -- will make our politics more of an ideological bloodsport and less about actually solving problems. Perspective is the thing we have least of in our politics these days. But perspective is what the presidency is all about -- rising above divisions and distractions to make long-term decisions in the national interest. By pouring gasoline on an already inflammatory political environment, the GOP presidential candidates not only diminish themselves, they diminish the process of running for president, and make it less likely that they would succeed in uniting the nation if they actually won the office. Follow CNN Opinion on Twitter. Join the conversation on Facebook. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

John Avlon: GOP candidates' extreme rhetoric against Obama is damaging . Politicians like Reagan disagreed with opponents, but with courtesy, he writes . Avlon: McCain stood up for Obama in the face of hate; these candidates don't . Avlon: Inflaming audiences with distortions of the truth will backfire eventually .

(CNN) -- Most of the wintry precipitation had moved on by Monday night, but much of the South is likely to see white stuff on the ground until the weekend as an Arctic low slides in, bringing low temperatures in the teens and highs barely out of the 20s. And a snow storm surging over the Plains and into the Ohio Valley promises to merge with the Southeast storm Tuesday night and slam into the Mid-Atlantic Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. The storm brought treacherous travel conditions across the Southeast Monday, with schools and government offices shut down from Arkansas to the Atlantic. Those conditions aren't expected to change overnight as temperatures remain below freezing, making morning commutes on Tuesday no better. In Atlanta, airlines canceled hundreds of flights Monday -- and plan to cancel more on Tuesday. AirTran spokesman Christopher White said the airline would begin operation "with a greatly reduced flight schedule" and warned that flights heading to the Northeast would likely be affected at least through Wednesday. Delta, which canceled almost a third of its flights across the country Monday, said it planned at least 1,400 cancellations on Tuesday. Spokesman Anthony Black said the airline was keeping a close eye on the Northeast for late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Both airlines were offering one-time flight changes with no fees for a limited period. And if air travel was limited, road travel was nearly non-existent. Impassable roads were the norm across the region, although that didn't keep everyone at home -- particularly truckers trying to keep their schedules. And some of those truckers caused some of the problems. Monday night in Atlanta, jackknifed tractor-trailers had blocked the east side of Interstate 285, which encircles the city, from Interstate 75 on the south to Interstate 85 on the northeast. Another had been stuck on fabled Peachtree Street in the city's Midtown district for hours. Georgia emergency officials warned people to stay off the roads if at all possible from central Georgia north. Atlanta police were dealing with so many accidents that the department announced it would only work accidents with injuries and provided an online form for drivers to report others. In Alabama, traffic accidents claimed two lives, one in Lowndes County and the other in Tuscaloosa County. Parts of the northern part of the state got 6 inches to 10 inches of snow, according to state Emergency Management spokeswoman Yasmie Richardson, and three-fourths of the state received snow or ice. Mississippi emergency officials reported a single fatal traffic accident on Sunday as sleet began moving into the state. No part of Carolinas was unaffected by the snows and ice, particularly the mountainous west where snowfalls of up to 18 inches were reported. North Carolina and South Carolina both expected freezing rain and sleet into Tuesday morning. The Tennessee Department of Transportation reported extremely hazardous conditions in the mountainous east, but ice and snow was also causing problems in other parts of the state. The governors of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina declared states of emergency. Double-digit snow depths were reported Monday in the Tennessee towns of Minor Hill (13 inches) and Lawrenceburg (11 inches), and in Oxford, Mississippi (10 inches). Other areas reporting heavy accumulations were Greenville, North Carolina (9 inches), Asheville, North Carolina (7 inches), and Huntsville, Alabama (7 inches). Canton, Georgia, and Greenville, South Carolina, each reported 6 inches. Reported power outages were relatively few early Monday. About 2,300 homes in Louisiana and 4,000 in Mississippi lost power, according to authorities in those states, and power had been restored to most of them. Nearly 2,000 Georgia customers were out of power, according Georgia Electric Membership Corp, and Georgia Power reported 3,000 customers out. But the snow brought out some revelers, too. In Kennesaw, northwest of Atlanta, Sarah DeRoch's daughter Gwyneth was bursting with anticipation of a whole day to play in the snow. "She's been asking me every five minutes, 'Did they close the schools?'" DeRoch said. In tiny Pine Lake, east of Atlanta, the city closed its steepest street to vehicular traffic -- but left it open for sledding. It drew dozens of kids (and adults) for a slippery ride down the street, a long trudge back up -- to an open fire pit, s'mores and hot chocolate. Most Atlanta students also will be staying home Tuesday, as well, as the major school districts announced closings will stretch into another day, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The situation was much the same in other metro areas along the storm's route: Most school districts near Birmingham, Alabama; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina, will be closed Tuesday, local media reported Monday. As the storm pressed farther to the northeast Monday, New Jersey and Delaware went under winter storm warnings, while winter storm watches were in place in much of the Northeastern seaboard and New England. The National Weather Service predicted 5 inches to 8 inches in the Philadelphia area, 4 inches or more in northern New Jersey and 2 to 6 inches in southern Delaware from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning. In the Southeast, the National Weather Service expected a high approaching 40 on Tuesday -- but the Arctic front currently bringing snow into the Midwest would sink into the south, without the precipitation but with frigid temperatures. While the snowstorm was a headache to drivers and businesses, it proved to be a help to police in one Georgia town. Officers investigating a pre-dawn burglary at a liquor store in Dalton, Georgia, simply followed a set of tracks in the otherwise undisturbed snow from the store to a nearby apartment complex. There, after knocking on the door where the footprints led, they found a pair of teenagers along with a backpack full of liquor bottles carrying stickers that matched bottles in the burglarized store. Two young men were arrested and charged with burglary and criminal destruction of property. CNN's Holly Yan, Andy Rose, Nick Valencia, Cameron Tankersley and Brian Walker contributed to this report.

NEW: Overnight freeze will keep the Southeast stuck . NEW: The Southeast storm is expected to merge with another coming from the Plains . Traffic fatalities are reported in Mississippi, Alabama . School closings are stretching into Tuesday for much of the region .

(CNN) -- He began his career as a bus driver in Caracas, then rose through the ranks to become a member of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's inner circle. Now, election authorities say voters have picked Nicolas Maduro to be Chavez's successor. With more than 99% of ballots counted, Maduro secured 50.7% of the vote, Venezuelan National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena said Sunday night, calling the results "irreversible." Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski has demanded a recount, and it's unclear what Venezuela's political future holds. But speaking to cheering supporters Sunday night, Maduro said he was certain of his victory and ready to lead the South American country. In campaign rallies leading up to Sunday's presidential election, Maduro pledged to continue Chavez's political projects to build "21st century socialism." Maduro, 50, has been Venezuela's interim leader since Chavez's death. When he registered to run for the presidency last month, he told supporters, "I am not Chavez, but I am his son." They weren't blood relations, but in one of his last public appearances, Chavez tapped Maduro as his replacement. Q&A: Venezuela's presidential election . "My firm opinion, as clear as the full moon -- irrevocable, absolute, total -- is ... that you elect Nicolas Maduro as president," Chavez said in December, waving a copy of the Venezuelan Constitution as he spoke. "I ask this of you from my heart. He is one of the young leaders with the greatest ability to continue, if I cannot." Maduro was a high-profile face in Chavez's administration. So was his wife, Cilia Flores, whom Chavez named as Venezuela's attorney general last year. Serving as both the country's vice president and foreign minister, Maduro often was seen in the front row of Chavez's news conferences and traveled to Cuba many times alongside Chavez as he underwent cancer treatment. U.S. open to 'more constructive relationship' with Venezuela . "He is without a doubt one of the ministers who is closest to Chavez," political analyst German Campos told CNN en Español after Chavez tapped Maduro as vice president in October. As foreign minister, Maduro was the country's top diplomat as ties grew with Cuba and tensions rose with the United States. In recent years, he has been an outspoken critic of U.S. policies toward Venezuela. When the Treasury Department added four Venezuelan officials to its drug kingpin list in 2011, Maduro accused the U.S. agency of acting as "a sort of world police agency" that has falsely named "decent citizens of our country ... as drug traffickers." "A country like that has no moral authority to judge generals and political officials in Venezuela," he said. "We reject it and we believe that the drug trafficking mafias are there, in a sick society like the United States." After security screeners detained him at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2006, Maduro called the U.S. government "racist" and "Nazi" and said does not appreciate Latin American countries. Since Chavez's March 5 death, Maduro has ratcheted up the rhetoric. His steady stream of accusations have included claims that people within the Pentagon and the CIA were plotting to destabilize Venezuela and suggestions that the United States may have caused Chavez's cancer. Chavez's criticisms of U.S. imperialism were a hallmark of his presidency and played well with his supporters. And some analysts said it was no surprise that the accusations -- which the United States has denied -- escalated with Maduro on the ticket to replace Chavez. Maduro hasn't always taken an extreme tack, said Javier Corrales, a professor of political science at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Hugo Chavez's death draws sympathy, anger . "On the one hand, he has been behind some of the most radical, crazy foreign policy decisions of the Chavez administration. Support for Libya, you name it, all the radical decisions, he has been behind them," Corrales said. "But he also has been behind some of the most pragmatic and conciliatory decisions, including the turnaround in relations with Colombia." That's a marked contrast with the inflammatory Chavez, who rarely turned to compromise, Corrales said. Before his role representing Venezuela abroad, Maduro honed his political skills at home. He became a union leader while working for the Caracas metro system. After Chavez came to power in 1999, Maduro helped draft a new constitution. He served as a congressman until 2006, when he was tapped as foreign minister. Maduro has said he's proud to continue "Chavismo," the political movement Chavez started. Throngs of dedicated followers still call themselves Chavistas in devotion to the former president. Before Sunday's vote, some analysts questioned whether Maduro would have the charisma to maintain their support. They noted that Chavez's political strength was largely fueled by his ability to personally connect with voters. And that personal connection with his supporters is "what's held things together in Venezuela," according to Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank. Opinion: After Chavez, a power vacuum . Chavez's public remarks supporting Maduro likely bolstered support for him among fervent Chavistas, Corrales said. "When popular presidents make an endorsement, that always has an effect," Corrales said. When he named Maduro as vice president, Chavez noted his extensive experience on "different battlefronts." "The bourgeoisie make fun of Nicolas Maduro because he was a bus driver," Chavez said, "and look where he's going now." Chavez leaves a revolutionary legacy . Journalist Osmary Hernandez contributed to this report from Caracas.

Analyst: Maduro was behind radical foreign policy decisions, also compromises . Hugo Chavez said he wanted Maduro to replace him . Maduro has been Venezuela's vice president and foreign minister . He started his career as a bus driver and later become a union leader and a politician .

WASHINGTON, Illinois (CNN) -- Ty Ziegel peers from beneath his Marine Corps baseball cap, his once boyish face burned beyond recognition by a suicide bomber's attack in Iraq just three days before Christmas 2004. Ty Ziegel, a Marine, was badly wounded in Iraq. He battled the VA over disability benefits when he returned. He lost part of his skull in the blast and part of his brain was damaged. Half of his left arm was amputated and some of the fingers were blown off his right hand. Ziegel, a 25-year-old Marine sergeant, knew the dangers of war when he was deployed for his second tour in Iraq. But he didn't expect a new battle when he returned home as a wounded warrior: a fight with the Department of Veterans Affairs. "Sometimes, you get lost in the system," he told CNN. "I feel like a Social Security number. I don't feel like Tyler Ziegel." His story is one example of how medical advances in the battlefield have outpaced the home front. Many wounded veterans return home feeling that the VA system, specifically its 62-year-old disability ratings system, has failed them. Watch Ziegel display his model skull » . "The VA system is not ready, and they simply don't have time to catch up," Tammy Duckworth -- herself a wounded veteran who heads up the Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs -- told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in March. VA Acting Secretary Gordon Mansfield said cases like Ziegel's are rare -- that the majority of veterans are moving through the process and "being taken care of." He also said most veterans are fairly compensated. "Any veteran with the same issue, if it's a medical disability, ... it is going to get the same exact result anywhere in our system," he said. More than 28,500 troops have been wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, including about 8,500 that have needed air transport, according to the U.S. military. See photos of these Iraq war heroes » . A recent Harvard study found that the cost of caring for those wounded over the course of their lifetime could ultimately cost more than $660 billion. In Ziegel's case, he spent nearly two years recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Once he got out of the hospital, he was unable to hold a job. He anticipated receiving a monthly VA disability check sufficient to cover his small-town lifestyle in Washington, Illinois. Instead, he got a check for far less than expected. After pressing for answers, Ziegel finally received a letter from the VA that rated his injuries: 80 percent for facial disfigurement, 60 percent for left arm amputation, a mere 10 percent for head trauma and nothing for his left lobe brain injury, right eye blindness and jaw fracture. "I don't get too mad about too many things," he said. "But once we've been getting into this, I'm ready to beat down the White House door if I need to." "I'm not expecting to live in the lap of luxury," he added. "But I am asking them to make it comfortable to raise a family and not have to struggle." Within 48 hours of telling his story to CNN this summer, the Office of then-VA Secretary Jim Nicholson acted on Ziegel's case. The VA changed his head trauma injury, once rated at 10 percent, to traumatic brain injury rated at 100 percent, substantially increasing his monthly disability check. Duckworth, the Illinois VA chief, knows exactly what Ziegel and other severely wounded vets are going through. She lost both her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade struck her Blackhawk helicopter on November 12, 2004. Her right arm was also shattered. Watch how Duckworth's wounds changed her life » . She told CNN she received "incredible care" at Walter Reed for 13 months, but soon realized the transition to the VA wouldn't be as smooth. "I started worrying about the fact that maybe this country won't remember in five years that there are these war wounded," Duckworth said. Garrett Anderson with the Illinois National Guard, for example, has been fighting the VA since October 15, 2005. Shrapnel tore through his head and body after a roadside bomb blew up the truck he was driving. He lost his right arm. The VA initially rejected his claim, saying his severe shrapnel wounds were "not service connected." Watch Anderson describe "my arm was hanging there" » . "Who would want to tell an Iraqi or Afghanistan soldier who was blown up by an IED that his wounds were not caused by his service over there?" said Anderson's wife, Sam. After pressure from Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the VA acted on Anderson's case. He has since been awarded compensation for a traumatic brain injury. "It upsets me that the VA system operates in a way that it takes people of power -- and who you know and what you know -- to get what you want," said Anderson, who is now retired. When asked about Anderson's case specifically, the VA's Mansfield said such cases make him "more dedicated" to fixing the system. In July, President Bush and a commission appointed to review the care of veterans returning from war announced the need for a complete overhaul of the disability ratings system, which dates back to World War II. The VA is now considering action on the commission's recommendations. Ziegel eventually won his battle. Still he feels for so many others he believes are getting cheated by the system. "We're feeding the war machine, but you never think of the war machine that comes home and needs, you know, feeding back home," he said. His family hopes they don't have to fight the VA again. In August, Ty Ziegel's brother, 22-year-old Zach Ziegel, was deployed to Iraq. "I want to make the VA system better because if he has to go through anything I went through, that's really going to upset me. That'll make my fuse real short and hot," Ty Ziegel said. E-mail to a friend .

Ty Ziegel lost an arm, part of his skull when he was attacked in Iraq . VA initially rated his brain injury at 0%, meaning he got no compensation for it . Another vet: VA rejected his claim, saying his wounds were "not service connected" Ziegel: "I want to make the VA system better"

(CNN) -- At this year's International Consumer Electronics Show, the televisions will be bigger, the watches smarter and more attractive, and the homes and cars more connected. CES, which kicks off next week in Las Vegas, is a giant technology trade show that mixes dozens of major tech companies with hundreds of scrappy startups. The big names show off their most recent lines of gadgets alongside eye-catching prototypes of future devices that may or may not ever make it into stores. Smaller companies fill booths with oddball gadgets and robots, plus more mundane fillers like phone accessories. Here's a peek at what to expect from 2014's first big technology conference. A gadget for every limb . There are devices to go on wrists, faces, waistbands and necks. Wearable-technology makers will push even harder to make these small gadgets go mainstream after a year of mostly awkward and misguided offerings. The main focus has been on smartwatches, but so far products like Samsung's Galaxy Gear have combined only half-baked hardware and clunky designs. Google Glass is not yet available outside a select group of beta testers, but it already has something of a reputation problem. One area that has managed to find a profitable niche is fitness tech. Wearable devices like the FitBit keep it simple by tracking steps, calories and other workout stats, and by synching collected data to smartphones. Fitness wearables overlap with health tech, with devices that track vital signs and help doctors monitor patients from far away. But it's still unclear if companies will be able to transition sporty and geeky wearables into legitimately fashionable designs that will appeal to mainstream consumers. Major tech companies at CES can be particularly tone-deaf when it comes to appealing to women. (An area of the show floor dubbed "Mommy Tech" is an ominous sign.) The intelligent house . It's not enough for phones and wristwatches to be smart. Some of the same technology that goes into wearable devices (tiny sensors and low-power wireless connections) is being used to make homes more connected as well. The promise of a smart home that saves energy and can be controlled from a phone has been around for several years, but the industry was still figuring out how to best make the various devices speak to each other. This year there will be even more vendors shilling home gadgets, but outside of home security systems -- a smart thermometer like Nest or a code lock -- it's not clear whether regular consumers are itching to wire up their entire homes so that they can dim the lights from halfway around the world. The home-automation industry still has some issues to untangle before it connects with mainstream homeowners. Conflicting communications standards, like ZigBee and Z-Wave, are fighting for supremacy. A handful of major companies want to own the entire connected-home ecosystem, such as Lowe's with its Iris system. Other smaller companies such as SmartThings see a future where various bits and pieces of a home from different vendors can work together. TVs are still a thing . Televisions continue to be a dominant product at CES, with major companies like Sony, Samsung, LG and Sharp trying to make screens bigger, higher-resolution and splashier than ever before. There will be gimmicky and extremely costly features, like curved screens, and other new form factors that will appeal only to the most well-funded audio/visual fanatic. Last year, 4K was the new ultra high-resolution buzzword, but the volume of 4K content continues to be minimal. (Expect to see some new 4K compatible cameras and camcorders.) Google gave the format a boost this year when it announced it is working on a way for the new devices to stream 4K content from services like YouTube without gobbling up all the bandwidth. The new streaming format, called VP9, will be demonstrated by major TV manufacturers at CES. Other TV trends will include OLED screens, Internet compatibility in the form of improved TV operating systems, and gesture controls. Many TV companies have eased off of 3-D televisions, which still haven't caught on despite years of hype. Cars connect with smartphones . Driving and smartphones may not mix now, but car companies are still looking into ways to safely combine the two. Detroit's annual auto show doesn't take place until later in January, but the tech developments inside the cars will make an early appearance at CES. It takes much longer to design and produce a new car than it does a smartphone, tablet or computer. That means such in-car technology as dashboard computers often feel out of date as soon as they're released. Some car manufacturers are working around this issue by adding compatibility for iOS and Android devices and including safe new ways to interact with the systems while keeping eyes on the road. Cars are new territory for the smartphone operating-system battle, with Apple and Google each angling for prime placement inside of popular car brands. For example, Audi is expected to announce next week a partnership with Google to bring Android systems to its cars. In-car information and entertainment systems are a minor feature when compared to what's going on inside some vehicles. Major car companies, universities and tech companies like Google are all working on automated-driving features. Fully self-driving cars are still a ways off, but early features that will let vehicles communicate with other cars, gather data about your driving patterns and take over in stop-and-go traffic are beginning to appear. The games people play . CES is not the biggest show for video-gaming news. The major console releases came out just ahead of the holiday rush, and game shows E3 and GDC don't take place until later in the year. But some smaller gaming products will bring a bit of fun to CES this year. Mobile gaming is a huge market, so look for smartphone- and tablet-compatible accessories and controls, motion sensors and fun add-ons that communicate with your devices over Bluetooth. Valve's SteamOS gaming platform is expected to have a big presence at CES, while cult darling Oculus Rift -- a virtual reality headset -- also will be on the floor. Some tech that started with game systems, such as motion-controlled interfaces, will branch out into other devices.

The International Consumer Electronics show starts Monday in Las Vegas . TVs will get bigger (and curved), and will add more "smart" features . Tiny sensors will lead to a boom in home and wearable gadgets .

(CNN) -- Thousands marched in Washington this weekend to call for action to counter climate change. With organizers estimating 35,000 people filling the National Mall, the Forward on Climate Change march was said to be the biggest demonstration thus far in support of this issue. "While they were fighting for equality," the Rev. Lennox Yearwood told the crowd, comparing them to those who took part in the March on Washington for civil rights in 1963, "we are fighting for existence." The protesters have support from President Barack Obama, who announced that he wants to make climate change a major issue in his second term. During his inaugural and State of the Union addresses, the president did not shy away from this controversial subject. But persuading Congress to pass this kind of legislation will be extremely difficult. Photos: 40,000 rally to stop Keystone pipeline . Standing Tuesday before visibly unhappy House Speaker John Boehner, Obama pointed to the recent natural disasters we've seen and spoke about the science of the environment, calling on Congress to act -- or threatening to do so himself if they refuse: . "We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science -- and act before it's too late." Democrats applauded. Republicans kept their hands in their pockets. If Obama can persuade Congress to take action on climate change, it would be one of the biggest accomplishments of his administration. But unlike some of the other issues that he has tackled -- including health care -- climate change is extraordinarily difficult since the benefits to voters are not immediate and not necessarily visible. His mission could be made more difficult if he decides to approve the proposal for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups that backed the president's re-election strongly oppose the project. To break through the gridlock on this issue and to persuade some of the congressional Republicans to start clapping, Obama will need more than crisis and science. The march this weekend must be the first of more organized grass-roots protests, not just on the mall in Washington but in the districts and states of key members of Congress. Most of the biggest policy breakthroughs in recent history have depended on strong grass-roots mobilization. In 1935, Congress passed the Wagner Act, which created the National Labor Relations Board and legitimated unions. This mobilization of industrial workers who would form the CIO was pivotal in providing President Franklin Roosevelt with the strength he needed to take on business with enormously controversial legislation. Several decades later, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 only came about because local activists, led by prominent leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., forced the White House and Congress to deal with the issue of racial equality over their deep political reservations. While both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were concerned about the huge risks that pushing for civil rights posed for the Democrats' stronghold in the South -- still the electoral base of the party back then -- both were finally moved to take action because of the valiant efforts of grass-roots activists who placed pressure on them and on uncommitted legislators. The civil rights movement changed public opinion and made inaction politically unacceptable. Conservatives have also depended on the grass roots to mobilize support for their issues. President Ronald Reagan's drive for deficit-inducing tax cuts and deregulation might not have worked if it were not for the grass-roots conservative activism of the 1970s that pushed national debate to the right. In the past few years, tea party activists have succeeded in moving the GOP toward an agenda of deficit reduction even at a moment when the key problem is generating economic growth and lowering unemployment rates. Environmental organizations have created a vast organizational infrastructure since the 1970s and remain a huge presence in Washington. But in recent years, they have been less effective at developing the same level of grass-roots energy as earlier movements, including their own in the 1970s. Climate change has too often been an issue that is Washington-focused rather than grass-roots focused. Instead of having former Vice President Al Gore be the face of efforts to counter climate change, Obama needs the images of local protesters gathering to make sure that Congress deals with the issue. Obama, a former community organizer, knows this as much as anyone. He has seen the profound effect tea party activists have had on the Republican Party, much to his consternation. As Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol has written, "To counter fierce political opposition, reformers will have to build organizational networks across the country, and they will need to orchestrate sustained political efforts that stretch far beyond friendly congressional offices, comfy board rooms and posh retreats ... insider politics cannot carry the day on its own, apart from a broader movement pressing politicians for change." Skocpol explains convincingly that one of the reasons for the failure of cap and trade legislation was that climate reformers focused their energy on Beltway lobbying rather than mobilizing support in local communities. Members of Congress know that climate change legislation doesn't offer tangible benefits to voters, so they're unlikely to act unless they feel pressure from activists in their districts. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Barbara Boxer, D-California, have taken the lead on the issue by putting forth a bill to impose a tax on the country's largest polluters, requiring them to pay $20 per ton of carbon and methane emissions, a sum that would rise over time. Under their bill, the government would invest the money in developing renewable fuel and more efficient energy policies, including a plan to weatherize more than a million homes. If the administration is going to build support for a version of this legislation, it will need support from the bottom, not just the top, in swaying and pressuring senators who will be leery about taking on this issue. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer .

Thousands marched in Washington to seek action on climate change . Julian Zelizer: President Obama called action on issue a priority in last week's speech . Convincing Congress to pass a bill on climate change is a heavy lift, Zelizer says . Zelizer: Grass-roots organizing will be crucial to passage of a bill .

(CNN) -- A battle is raging in the nation's capital over who should be nominated as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. As President Obama considers his choices, all sides are pushing their candidates. The two main contenders to replace outgoing chairman Ben Bernanke are the current vice chairwoman of the Fed, Janet Yellen, and Larry Summers, an economics adviser to President Obama, former Treasury secretary and president of Harvard University. Summers' acerbic and dismissive intellectual style, his support of bank deregulation (he was a key leader in the Clinton administration's team that worked with Congress to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era law separating investment banking from institutions with federally insured deposits), his fight against regulating financial derivatives (a major source of the financial crisis) and his successful advocacy with Congress to allow higher executive pay and bonuses for financial executives whose firms received billions in federal bailouts during the financial crisis all feed the opposition, who believe that Yellen is perfectly well qualified to lead the Federal Reserve. Although many people don't know it, the Federal Reserve doesn't just regulate the money supply -- it is also a principal regulator of America's largest banks. It's not so much that Yellen is a far superior candidate -- after all, she and Summers are on the same page when it comes to monetary policy. There is little indication from her record about what kind of approach she would take on regulation. But compared with Summers, she cannot be worse. The real issue is: Given Summers' track record, could he be a tough regulator? Supporters of Summers say he can be tough. But evidence from his days in government and on Wall Street suggest otherwise. Summers has advocated for limited regulation throughout his career. In September 2000, while he was the Treasury secretary, he said that the role of financial regulation was to find policies that "help to expand the size of (financial) markets. ... Deregulation becomes that much more important, to ensure that government is not preventing or distorting the development of fast-growing markets." He also told the Securities Industry Association that "it is the private sector, not the public sector, that is in the best position to provide effective supervision. ... In the past few years, the private sector has risen to meet the challenges ... and we have seen significant self-correction." A decade later, at a conference in 2011, Summers showed no second thoughts on his previous deregulatory policies, arguing that the financial crisis was not caused by "new-fangled financial instruments," including the derivatives that he fought to protect from regulation in the late 1990s. When it comes to Wall Street, Summers said he obtained insights based partly on working part-time for the hedge fund D.E. Shaw and Company where he earned over $5 million in just one year. Summers said the experience gave him "a better sense of how market participants sort of think and react to things from sort of listening to the conversations and listening to the way the traders at D. E. Shaw thought." According to former colleagues at D.E. Shaw, Summers was directly involved in sales, including sales of what turned out to be highly overvalued mortgage-backed securities to Asian sovereign wealth funds, the kind of securities that were deeply implicated in the financial meltdown. He was also a "prized spokesman" for D.E. Shaw, "routinely made himself available for private consultations" with prospective and existing clients, and met with investors from the U.S. and abroad. One young female quant who worked with him had this to say on her blog, "But when I think about that last project I was working on, I still get kind of sick to my stomach. It was essentially, and I need to be vague here, a way of collecting dumb money from pension funds. There's no real way to make that moral, or even morally neutral." By "dumb money," she is referring to the fact that investors, including those who manage public pension funds, routinely buy certain types of secure assets on a regular schedule or in other predictable patterns. Hedge funds like D.E. Shaw take advantage of that predictable behavior by selling these assets to investors for a slightly higher price. Because of the huge dollar value and volume of these investments, such strategies can make hundreds of millions of dollars for hedge funds. Now, Summers has defenders. Michael Barr, a strong advocate of financial regulation who worked for Summers at the Treasury as assistant secretary for financial institutions said, "I wouldn't have gone to work for Larry if he didn't believe in financial regulation." But arguing that Summers' multi-million dollar sales work for a hedge fund somehow adds to his qualifications for the Fed chairman job is ludicrous. He was working for and dressing up the work of financial professionals selling high-priced investment products made even more expensive by the exorbitant fees charged by hedge funds. Moreover, hedge fund investments often are inferior for investors. In 2012, an investor would have done much better by simply buying the S&P 500 index instead of a hedge fund. To convince investors to pay their high fees, hedge funds do a lot of active selling and cozying up to money managers. Summers was part of this public relations strategy -- a glittering ornament to lure in investors. There's nothing illegal in all of this. But there's also nothing in Summers' experience to suggest that he would be a tough regulator. His supporters include people like Robert Rubin, former chairman of Citibank and co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, and Timothy Geithner, who as president of the New York Federal Reserve and later Treasury secretary, refused to take a tough line on bank regulation. Think they are pushing Summers because he'd be a tough regulator? Think again. America needs a Fed leader who will protect small businesses, ordinary investors, and the economy from misbehavior by big banks and financial corporations. We need a fierce regulatory watchdog, not a lapdog of the banks. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rick McGahey.

Larry Summers is a top contender for the job of chairman of the Federal Reserve . Rick McGahey: Given Summers' track record, he is unlikely going to be a tough regulator . He says Summers supported deregulation of banks and higher pay for financial executives . McGahey: We need a fierce regulatory watchdog at the Fed, not a lapdog of the banks .

(CNN) -- In Chicago in 1968, anti-war protesters at the Democratic National Convention chanted "The Whole World Is Watching." World news events of the past had few reporting electronically, but hundreds are in Iran. They were talking about television cameras that showed police beatings on the evening news. More than 40 years later, with a massive movement aimed at reversing election results and possibly even toppling a regime in Iran, online networking is instantly sharing protesters' actions. And the whole world is watching. "That wasn't true in Chicago," Clay Shirky, a writer, consultant and New York University instructor who focuses on the social impact of the Internet, said of the slogan. "Now, it's true." The watching isn't the end of the story -- and may not even end up being its most important piece -- according to Shirky. "Since we don't know how this ends, the lessons are all provisional at the moment," he said. "But it seems to me that the biggest potential difference right now is not just that the whole world is watching, but that people from outside -- civilians from outside -- Iran are trying to actually affect the outcome." From the moment Iranians took to the streets of Tehran to protest results of an election they believe President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole, electronic media has been a part of the story. Demonstrators made plans by text message -- when they could get around reported government interference with their signals. Web sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube were used to organize, drum up support and share images of street protests -- and the brutal retribution that sometimes followed -- with a world hungry for news. As the Iranian government began limiting the freedom of traditional news outlets to report in the country, citizen journalists became crucial in showing scenes from the movement. It's the latest step forward in a media technology march that has included stops at the Spanish-American War, when telegraphs wired updates to the world, and the Vietnam War, when television first gave viewers a daily look at how the conflict was going. "Every new technology gives those at home, or for that matter in the war rooms, a different way [to see] and perhaps a larger perspective on what's out there," said Susan Moeller, director of the University of Maryland's International Center for Media and the Public Agenda. "In Vietnam, you might have had two or three networks out there covering it -- you could count on your fingers the number of perspectives on what was going on," she said. "Today, you have the ability to literally have hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands, of perspectives from people not only of different geographical perspectives, but also from different cultural and philosophical perspectives." Moeller said online networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have "come into flowering" since even the most recent world events, like natural disasters or political upheavals, that have garnered widespread attention. The growing number of people becoming Web-savvy makes the online networks more powerful, she said. "It's not just the half-dozen geeks that used to be part of the HAM radio network, but millions of people have figured out how to sign up at Facebook and can get to [opposition candidate Mir Hossein] Moussavi's Facebook site." Sarah Jaffe, a blogger and self-professed "new media geek" living in New York, is among those who have tuned in to the action in Iran through online media. In a blog Thursday titled, "Iran Protests: It's not about Twitter, it's not about us," she noted the important role the Internet has played in spreading the word and engaging the public. But at the end of the day, she said, the online tools are just that -- tools. And the real story is the massive, nonvirtual movement in Iran. "I love Twitter and all that stuff ... but it's not all about us," she said to CNN Thursday. "We wouldn't be paying attention on Twitter if it were not for thousands and possibly millions of people in the street." Helping free up Internet access for Iranians creates a way for people all over the world to show support for those protesters from the comfort of their own homes, Shirky said. "One of the easy criticisms to make of people on Facebook and Twitter is, 'You're changing your avatar picture to green [the color Moussavi supporters wear]. Isn't that sweet? How pointless," he said. "But one of the things that emboldens people turning out in the streets is visible evidence that there's an audience outside their immediate area." The online activism does raise some unanswered questions, though, according to Shirky. He said some of them are troubling. He noted that some of the Americans working to help Iranian dissidents fight their own government were among those who criticized former U.S. President George W. Bush for pushing for regime change in neighboring Iraq. "It's a kind of civilian diplomacy," he said. "The regime will certainly use this as evidence of American meddling and it is American meddling," he said. "It's just not meddling by the American state." The anonymity of online citizen journalism also presents problems for people trying to process the news. While some bloggers and frequent users of networking sites have become trusted names among followers of news out of Iran, it can be otherwise difficult to figure out who the source of a piece of information is. "It puts a demand on the person at home to make sense of it," Moeller said. "And to be able to add some context and so forth." Suspicion of intentional misinformation from the Iranian government also has rippled through the networks. For example, a Twitter user claiming to be an Iranian student was posting misinformation Wednesday -- including a report that demonstrations had been canceled -- and listed a phone number for a supposed safe house for protesters. And while it's impossible to deny the game-changing impact the Internet is having on the Iranian situation, there's no guarantee it will help topple Iran's hard-line leadership, according to Moeller. "It doesn't mean we're going to see the brand new day of Iran dawning," she said. "But the technology is there to stay. You can't pull the plug on the Internet."

Experts on Iran: Online world is watching, acting . Foreign activists have been key in helping Iran's dissidents spread word . Future impact of "civilian diplomacy" online is unknown, expert says . Despite its power, no sure thing Internet will bring change in Iran .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama's 30-minute TV ad, which ran simultaneously on broadcast and cable networks at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, is muscle-flexing that has little precedent, a campaign advertising expert said. Sen. Barack Obama aired a 30-minute campaign ad Wednesday night. "It's evidence, if you needed any, that the Obama campaign has more money than there is ad time left to buy," said Evan Tracey, director of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. "This is flexing the muscles." Tracey estimates that it will cost the campaign "in the $4 to 5 million range -- at a minimum, $3.5 million." But, he said, spending the money is a "no-brainer" for the Democratic presidential hopeful. "The strategic brilliance of this for Obama is that he is going to consume about 24 hours of the news cycle," Tracey said. "It boxes [John] McCain in, takes the oxygen out of the room." In the carefully produced infomercial, Obama laid out his plans for the economy and for bringing an end to the war in Iraq. It also featured stories of struggling families in swing states such as Ohio and Missouri and included testimonials from high-profile supporters, including Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. iReport.com: What do you want to ask Sen. Obama? Obama's Republican opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, was not mentioned, nor was the GOP. The spot ended with a brief, live Obama address to a rally in Florida, another hotly contested state in this year's campaign. "I'm reminded every single day that I am not a perfect man," he said. "I will not be a perfect president. "But I can promise you this: I will always tell you what I think and where I stand. I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you when we disagree. And, most importantly, I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved in your own democracy again." There was so much buzz surrounding the infomercial -- which was announced about two weeks ago -- that on Tuesday, Time magazine's Mark Halperin put the ad's two editors on his daily list of the "five most important people in American politics not running for president." Watch more on the Obama campaign ad buy » . Those editors, Erik Smith and Mark Putnam, were "still in an edit room" cutting the 30-minute piece Tuesday when he published the list, according to Halperin, Time's editor-at-large and senior political analyst. The ad ran at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox, BET, TV One and Univision, the Spanish-language network, six days before Election Day. CNN declined to run the spot, and talks between ABC and the Obama campaign fell apart. "We were approached by the Obama campaign and declined their request," said Sal Petruzzi, senior vice president for public relations of Turner Broadcasting, CNN's parent company. "We did not want to pre-empt our programming lineup with a 30-minute spot. We would rather use our air to continue to cover the campaign, candidates and issues like we always do, from all points of view with the best political team on television." An ABC spokeswoman declined to comment about the network's talks with the Obama campaign. "As a matter of policy we don't comment about clients with whom we are doing business," said Julie Hoover of ABC. The Obama campaign has bought advertising on ABC in the past, she said, "but they did not buy the half-hour." Obama taped an interview Wednesday with ABC's Charles Gibson, which is to run Thursday, his campaign said. A source familiar with ABC policy suggested the network had offered the Obama campaign a different time slot. "Hypothetically, we would have offered them equivalent time," the source said. "We don't have to give them the exact slot they are asking for." Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said ABC had ultimately offered Obama the slot he wanted, but the campaign turned it down. "By the time they agreed, we had already committed our resources," Burton said. The Obama campaign reported last week that it had raised a record-shattering $150 million in September. Obama has outspent McCain by a huge margin, according to CNN's consultant on ad spending. Between the time the two candidates clinched their party's nominations in the spring and October 25, Obama spent more than $205 million on TV ads. McCain spent more than $119 million, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group. The McCain campaign launched an ad Wednesday attacking Obama for his 30-minute special. "Behind the fancy speeches, grand promises and TV special lies the truth: With crises at home and abroad, Barack Obama lacks the experience America needs," the ad said. The timing of Obama's informercial pushed back the start of a World Series game, provoking a jab from McCain during a Wednesday afternoon appearance in Florida. "It used to be that only rain or some other act of God could delay the World Series," he said. "But I guess network executives figured an Obama infomercial was close enough." The Obama campaign did not ask that the game be delayed, said a spokesman for Fox, which broadcasts the World Series. "They asked Fox to buy the air time," the spokesman said. "Fox went to our partner, Major League Baseball, and asked if it would be OK to delay the game to take this important political advertisement. They agreed." MLB's willingness to delay the fall classic for a political ad shows how very unusual the Obama TV spot is. "Ross Perot did it in 1992, but it wasn't this close to Election Day, and now you have a very different media consumption environment. You didn't have the cable then," Tracey said. "There is no precedent for this sort of an ad this late in the race." CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand and CNN Entertainment's Rachel Wells contributed to this report.

NEW: Obama ad features stories of struggling families, high-profile endorsements . NEW: Obama discusses plans for economy, bringing end to Iraq war . NEW: On ad's timing, McCain says it used to take "act of God" to delay World Series . McCain launched an ad attacking Obama for his 30-minute special .

(CNN) -- As an ailing Nelson Mandela recuperates in a South African hospital, the world celebrated his 95th birthday Thursday, honoring his legacy in various ways, including performing 67 minutes of community service. Voice from a Kenyan slum: Mandela saved my life . Schoolchildren sang "Happy Birthday" to the former president during morning assemblies while crowds left flowers and candles outside his Pretoria hospital. The day also marks 15 years since he married his wife, Graca Machel. President Jacob Zuma said that Mandela, who has been hospitalized with a lung ailment since June, is "steadily improving." Zuma's latest assessment comes after weeks of describing Mandela's heath as critical but stable. Read more: The six names of Nelson Mandela . The president wished Mandela a happy birthday. "We are proud to call this international icon our own as South Africans and wish him good health," Zuma said. "We thank all our people for supporting Madiba throughout the hospitalization with undying love and compassion. We also thank all for responding to the call to give Madiba the biggest birthday celebration ever this year." South Africans affectionately refer to Mandela as Madiba, his clan name. The United Nations declared July 18 as Mandela Day four years ago to honor his role in reconciling a country torn apart by apartheid. It started as a call to promote global peace and encourage community service. Read more: Mandela posters mark 95th birthday . His foundation is asking people to volunteer 67 minutes of public service on his birthday, a reference to the number of years he devoted to public service. President Bill Clinton joins tributes . At an event in New York City, former U.S. President Bill Clinton was among the speakers to pay a heartfelt tribute to Mandela and his achievements. Clinton, whose presidency coincided with Mandela's, recalled how they developed a personal friendship over the course of two decades after first meeting before Clinton's election to the White House. He paid tribute to Mandela's life of service, saying the world could learn from his example, as an anti-apartheid campaigner, as South Africa's president and after leaving office. Mandela's commitment to helping those with HIV/AIDS helped millions of people in the developing world gain access to medication, he said. Clinton also recalled how Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls, had cited Mandela as an influence in her own address to the United Nations a week ago. "Though he is old and frail and fighting for his life ... what is in his heart still glows in his smile and lights up the room," Clinton said, adding that Mandela had demonstrated that "none of us has to be in public office to be of public service." Andrew Mlangeni, 87, who was imprisoned with Mandela, hailed his friend as "a modern day global icon, an embodiment of the values of justice, peace, selflessness and consideration." The world's celebration of Mandela's birthday is also a celebration of the human values that the former leader represents, he said. He said Mandela was "making very good progress " and appealed to those gathered to continue to pray for him. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the U.S. civil rights leader, praised Mandela's commitment to healing and equality and urged people to honor his courage. The world "will never forget the living witness of Nelson Mandela," he said, describing him as a "giant of men." 'Path to justice' U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited with Mandela's family in South Africa last month, also sent birthday wishes. "People everywhere have the opportunity to honor Madiba through individual and collective acts of service," he said in a prepared statement. "Through our own lives, by heeding his example, we can honor the man who showed his own people -- and the world -- the path to justice, equality and freedom." The frail icon has not appeared in public for years, but he retains his popularity as the father of democracy and emblem of the nation's fight against apartheid. His defiance of white minority rule focused the world's attention on apartheid, the legalized racial segregation enforced by the South African government until 1994. The raid that saw Mandela jailed for life: Liliesleaf 50 years on . His hospitalization has given his birthday a sentimental touch. The South African Embassy in the United States said it will be the biggest celebration since his birthday in 1990, the year he was freed from prison. The festivities are not limited to South Africa. In the United States, the embassy said 18 cities, including the nation's capital, will hold various events to celebrate his birthday. Family feud . Mandela's family has faced an anxious few weeks while the former president has been hospitalized. His daughter, Zindzi Mandela-Motlhajwa, told the South African Press Association on Thursday that her father was making "remarkable progress" and that she looks forward to seeing him back home soon. A public family feud over where three of Mandela's deceased children should be buried has added to their stress. Last month, family members sued Mandela's grandson to return the remains to Qunu, the former president's childhood home. The grandson, Mandla Mandela, exhumed the remains from Qunu two years ago, then reburied them in Mvezo, where he's built a visitor center. They were returned to Qunu this month after a court order. The matter is back in court Thursday, said Freddie Pilusa, a spokesman for the grandson. "Mandla does not want the graves repatriated, but he wants the decision forcing him to move them rescinded because it was based on incorrect information," he said. Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate, spent 27 years in prison for fighting against oppression of minorities in South Africa. He became the nation's first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed from prison. CNN's Nkepile Mabuse and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report.

NEW: "What is in his heart still glows in his smile," says Bill Clinton of Mandela . The United Nations declared July 18 as Mandela Day four years ago . It started as call to promote global peace and encourage community service . Dispute over burial of Mandela's children is back in court, a spokesman says .

(CNN) -- Women wanted him. Men wanted to be him. Seven decades before Neymar, a world away from Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, a predecessor to Zico and Socrates and a formidable striker who could have rivaled Pele. That man was Heleno de Freitas, a soccer superstar in the days before Brazil ruled the "beautiful game." He was a larger than life playboy who abandoned a legal career to become his country's finest footballer. And before the Maracana -- Brazil's iconic stadium in Rio de Janeiro -- was built, Heleno was the city's star attraction with a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality which saw him flit from outrageous charmer to disruptive egoist. "Sometimes he was a gentleman, other times you couldn't stand him," explains Marcos Eduardo Neves, author of "There was never a man like Heleno." "Like the book by R.L. Stevenson, he was a doctor and a monster," Neves told CNN. Heleno is best remembered for his nine-year spell with Rio club Botafogo, scoring over 200 goals for the team between 1939 and 1948 to become one of South America's most feared strikers. Blog: Can anyone stop Spain at 2014 World Cup? But his career, much like his life, was tinged with tragedy, as circumstance and his ability to press the self-destruct button prevented him from capturing any significant silverware as a player. "He grew up knowing he wanted to be a football player," says Neves. "When he moved from Minas Gerais to Rio he marveled at beach football and Botafogo ... His will became an obsession." An affluent background had afforded Heleno the opportunity to train as a lawyer, but the courtroom could not contain his football talent or his vibrant personality. World Sport Presents: Racism in Football . "He had a big ego and his soul craved the screams of thousands of football supporters," Neves says. "He loved his star status, being an international idol, playing for his national team and being desired by women and admired by men. "He thought his fame would be eternal. He believed he would be Heleno de Freitas forever." Arguably Heleno's crowning moment -- Brazil's crowning moment -- should have come at the 1950 World Cup. It was the first time Brazil had hosted the tournament -- next year the World Cup returns to the South American nation for a second time-- and it was an opportunity for the country to announce itself as a global power, both on and off the pitch. With the grandest of stages -- the Maracana -- constructed, Heleno's public awaited. But when 200,000 Brazilians packed into the stadium for an agonizing defeat to Uruguay in the tournament's final match, Heleno was nowhere to be seen. "Because of World War II, Heleno missed out on the World Cups of 1942 and 1946," explained Neves. "The 1950 World Cup was his last chance, given his physical and technical peak. But he wasted it." In 1949 Heleno was playing for Vasco Da Gama, having spent the previous year living the high life in Argentina with Boca Juniors -- with his spell in Buenos Aires rumored to have even included a fling with Argentina's then First Lady, Eva "Evita" Peron. Heleno's coach at Vasco was Flavio Costa, who was also in charge of the Brazil national team. But Costa criticized the attitude of his combustible star and Heleno's response was typically trigger happy. He pointed a gun to Costa's head and pulled the trigger. The gun wasn't loaded, but that action was enough to kill Heleno's dreams of playing in the World Cup. Vasco won the Rio de Janeiro State Championship, but by now Heleno was an outcast. When Brazil was left heartbroken by a 2-1 defeat to Uruguay which destroyed its World Cup dreams, Heleno was playing in Colombia's lucrative illegal leagues. "For the fans, Brazil lost the World Cup because they didn't have Heleno," says Neves. "Brazil feared a valiant Uruguay. With Heleno, it wouldn't be like this. He didn't fear anyone or anything. "They say that, in 1951, Heleno used to say he could have saved Brazil," says Jose Henrique Fonseca, director of the biographical film "Heleno," which was released in 2011. By the time Brazil, led by the precocious talents of Pele and Garrincha, finally won the World Cup for the first time in Sweden in 1958, Heleno was hurtling towards an early grave. "Heleno became a walking bomb ready to explode. Syphilis and drugs just amplified his self-destruction," Neves says. "He had a good upbringing, he was elegant, educated and from a good family. He could have enjoyed a career as a lawyer or diplomat -- instead he suffered a pathetic death in a mental institution." Heleno died on November 8, 1959, aged just 39. "He was a victim of his refusal to be treated for syphilis and if untreated it affects the brain," Fonseca told CNN. "He suffered a lot. To see a photo of him when he died is amazing, he looked 70 years old." Could Heleno, free from disease and drug addiction, have carved out a legacy as formidable as Pele, who is widely regarded as the greatest player who has ever lived? "Pele is one of a kind, like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and surfer Kelly Slater are," says Neves. "But Heleno would be more recognized worldwide. Maybe at the level of a Zico, Romario and Ronaldo." For Brazil, much like the tale of the 1950 World Cup final, Heleno's story is one of what might have been.

Heleno de Freitas was one of Brazil's first soccer stars . Striker starred for Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro in the 1940s, scoring over 200 goals . Heleno missed out on the 1950 World Cup after pointing a gun at Brazil's coach . He died aged just 39 after struggling with syphilis and drug problems .

(CNN) -- Jay Leno pulled no punches on his show Monday night, the first since NBC confirmed the TV host was being kicked out of his low-rated 10 p.m. slot after just three months. "Welcome to 'The Jay Leno Show.' As you know, we're not just a show anymore, we are now a collector's item," he said to open the show, before launching into a string of scathing one-liners making not-so-light of the situation. Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, announced Sunday that the network was taking Leno -- formerly the host of "The Tonight Show" now helmed by Conan O'Brien -- out of the prime-time slot because the show "didn't meet affiliates' needs" despite performing at acceptable levels for the network. The last show will air February 11 to make way for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which airs starting February 12. "NBC said the show performed exactly as they expected it would and then canceled us. Don't confuse this when we were on at late night and performed better than expected and they canceled us. That was totally different," Leno quipped. Gaspin said the plan now is for Leno to host a new, half-hour show at 11:35 p.m. ET, followed by "Tonight" with O'Brien at 12:05 a.m. and Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night" show moving to 1 a.m. O'Brien had his own zingers for NBC during his monologue Monday night. Among them: . -- "Good evening, I'm Conan O'Brien, the new host of 'Last Call with Carson Daly.' " -- "This weekend no one was seriously hurt, but a 6.5 earthquake hit California. The earthquake was so powerful that it knocked Jay Leno's show from 10:00 to 11:35." -- "On the positive side, I have learned a valuable lesson from all this: never sign a contract that ends with the word 'NOT.' " As of Sunday, NBC was still negotiating with the three hosts over the proposed line-up. "Supposedly we're moving to 11:30. Even this is not for sure. My people are upset. Conan's people are upset. Hey, NBC said it wanted drama at 10:00 -- now they've got it! Everyone's mad," Leno said Monday night. Before turning his monologue to other current events, Leno had one last piece of mud to sling: . "I take pride in one thing. I leave NBC prime time the same way I found it -- a complete disaster." NBC moved Leno to the prime time slot in September with "The Jay Leno Show," a decision that raised eyebrows in the industry. In an unprecedented move, NBC was pitting a talk show up against the hourlong dramas that have typically done well at 10 p.m. Although Leno's ratings were on target with NBC's expectations, the low average of nightly viewers left affiliates feeling the brunt of "the Leno effect," causing the ratings for nightly news to drop. This announcement fueled rumors that O'Brien, who took Leno's spot on "The Tonight Show" in 2009, is considering making an exit. Scott Grogin, a spokesman for Fox, had no comment on whether the network had reached out to offer O'Brien his own show. Fox reportedly went after him six years ago, which led to NBC offering him the "Tonight Show" chair after Leno's eventual departure. "This is still being sorted out," said Ben Grossman, editor in chief of the industry trade publication Broadcasting and Cable, who added that he expects the network to reach a conclusion over the next few days. "The bottom line is that NBC has decided -- correctly or incorrectly -- that they're going to try and keep all their late-night talent. That's very expensive and a very questionable strategy." Grossman thinks it's very likely Leno will remain at 11:30 post-negotiations. "I just don't know that you need to pay that much money in late-night. I think you pick two hosts, one at 11:30 and one at 12:30." Out of the three hosts, O'Brien is the clear loser, Grossman says. Even if O'Brien were to stick it out with NBC, getting bumped back to 12:05 is not optimal, said Christopher Naughton, a 20-year TV veteran and attorney who produces "The American Law Journal." "Pushing it back half an hour is huge," Naughton said. "The later in the night you go, the fewer people that are watching. [That's] going back to a time slot where it's the 'Late Show' again." The whole scenario recalls the precedent set by a similar NBC fiasco 17 years ago, Naughton said, when Leno and David Letterman were dueling over "The Tonight Show." After failing to secure the "The Tonight Show" position succeeding Johnny Carson, "Letterman was able to break out of his contract [with NBC]," Naughton said. "It set legal precedence because they wanted to keep Letterman, but he jumped ship through an escape clause." NBC's talk shuffle: The right move? Share your view . The effect of that incident has been reverberating through NBC for years, he added. "It's a karmic thing for them," Naughton said. "You would think that NBC would have learned." Jerry Seinfeld, however, doesn't believe people should be shedding tears for O'Brien. "Conan has a chance to destroy everybody," the comedian said while on a press tour for his new show, "The Marriage Ref." "I don't think anyone's done anything to Conan."

NEW: Conan: Earthquake so powerful "it knocked Jay Leno's show from 10:00 to 11:35" Leno: "I leave NBC prime time the same way I found it -- a complete disaster" NBC is still negotiating contracts for Leno, Fallon, O'Brien . Jerry Seinfeld: "Conan has the chance to destroy everybody"

(CNN) -- The proposal by the Cordoba Initiative to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero has drawn major media attention and engendered fierce debate. Right-wing political commentators, politicians, hard-line Christian ministers, bloggers and some families of 9/11 victims have charged that it is insensitive to 9/11 families, dishonors memories of the victims and will be a "monument to terrorism." But here are the facts:The center is not at Ground Zero but two blocks away, and the Cordoba Initiative seeks to build a center, not a mosque. The center is not designed as a local mosque for a Muslim community but rather to serve the wider community. It is meant to improve interfaith and Muslim-West relations and promote tolerance -- not just to provide services to Muslims. The proposed 15-story community center will include a prayer room, offices, meeting rooms, gym, swimming pool and performing arts center. The controversy over Cordoba House is not an isolated event. It is part of a much more far-reaching pattern and problem. Mosque construction in the United States has become a catalyst for increased anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiment, discrimination and hate crimes in recent years. Efforts to construct mosques to accommodate growing Muslim populations have sparked intense opposition. A commentary appearing in the New York Post last month attacked plans to construct mosques in the state of New York: . "...There's no denying the elephant in the room. Neither is there any rejoicing over the mosques proposed for Sheepshead Bay, Staten Island and Ground Zero because where there are mosques, there are Muslims, and where there are Muslims, there are problems." It continued: "Before New York becomes New Yorkistan, it is worth noting that the capital of Great Britain was London until it became known as 'Londonstan,' degenerated by a Muslim community predominantly from South Asia and Africa, whose first generation of 'British Asians' has made the United Kingdom into a launching pad for terrorists." In the face of such rhetoric, where do we go from here? Globalization and an increasingly multicultural and multireligious America (and Europe), with their significant Muslim populations, tests the mettle of Western democratic principles of free speech and freedom of worship. Unfortunately, American attitudes toward Islam and Muslims often blur the line between the peaceful and rational mainstream majority of Muslims on the one hand and the acts of a small but dangerous minority on the other. In some states, opposition to mosque construction has been led by politicians -- individuals charged with representing and upholding democratic values. In June 2010, a Tennessee Republican candidate, Lou Ann Zelenik, opposed the Muslim community's proposal to build a mosque in Murfreesboro, charging the Muslim center was not part of a religious movement, but a political one "designed to fracture the moral and political foundation of Middle Tennessee." She warned, "Until the American Muslim community find it in their hearts to separate themselves from their evil, radical counterparts, to condemn those who want to destroy our civilization and will fight against them, we are not obligated to open our society to any of them. " The charge that Muslims do not condemn terrorism has been made repeatedly, despite that post-9/11, many Muslim leaders and organizations in America and globally have consistently denounced acts of terrorism. But major media outlets do not seem to find them newsworthy, and thus they must be found in smaller outlets on the internet. Even though major polls by the Gallup Organization and PEW research center show that the vast majority of American Muslims are well-integrated and, in contrast to many Muslim countries, pluralistic in outlook, a 2006 USAToday-Gallup poll found that substantial minorities of Americans admit to having negative feelings or prejudices against Muslims. Fewer than half the respondents believed U.S. Muslims are loyal to the United States. About four in 10 favored more rigorous security measures for Muslims than those used for other U.S. citizens and requiring Muslims who are U.S. citizens to carry a special ID and undergo special, more intensive, security checks before boarding airplanes in the United States. Islam-bashing charges leveled with no concrete evidence by pundits and politicians ring hollow. The call by some New York politicians for a delay in the construction of the Cordoba Center to examine its funding is simply grandstanding that reinforces the notion that somehow all Muslims, mosques and Islamic centers are guilty until proved innocent. Muslim center flap recalls earlier N.Y. controversy over Arabic-language school . Why should Muslims who are building a center be any more suspect than Jews who build a synagogue or center or Christians who build a church or conference center? As New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it: "If somebody wants to build a religious house of worship, they should do it and we shouldn't be in the business of picking which religions can and which religions can't. I think it's fair to say if somebody was going to try to on that piece of property build a church or a synagogue, nobody would be yelling and screaming. And the fact of the matter is that Muslims have a right to do it, too." Muslims are part of the mosaic of America, citizens and believers who are economically, educationally and politically integrated. No longer predominantly new arrivals, many are second- and third-generation citizens. Despite terrorist attacks by a very small but dangerous minority of extremists, the majority of Muslims, like their non-Muslim fellow citizens, are loyal citizens. Islamophobia must be recognized for what it is, a social cancer as unacceptable as anti-Semitism, a threat to the very fabric of our democratic, pluralistic way of life. The line that distinguishes Islam from those who commit violence and terror in the name of Islam --between the majority of mainstream Muslims and the acts of a minority of Muslim terrorists -- must be maintained. Blurring these distinctions risks the adoption of foreign and domestic policies that promote a clash rather than co-existence of cultures and threaten the rights and civil liberties of Muslims. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John L. Esposito.

John Esposito says there's fierce debate over Muslim center planned near Ground Zero . Esposito: Cordoba House is meant to improve interfaith connections in community . Polls show many Americans leery of Muslims; they also show Muslims integrated, loyal to U.S. Esposito: Opposition to center goes against democratic principles, is Islamophobic .

(CNN) -- Good things come to those who wait. And that's exactly what viewers will be doing when TV's best midseason offering, "Good Christian Belles," aka "GCB," debuts March 4 on ABC. Reminiscent of "Desperate Housewives" in its less desperate heyday, "GCB" follows Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb), a woman who ruled in high school but has since been humbled by life when her marriage ends in scandal and she has to return home to Dallas. Unfortunately for Amanda, a mother of two, her former "frenemies"-turned-socialites and their husbands haven't quite evolved, and they do everything they can to make her life miserable. Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth stars as one of Amanda's rivals, and Annie Potts steals scenes as Amanda's meddlesome mother. The show is based on a best-selling book from Kim Gatlin. While "Good Christian Belles" is the best, it's not the only show to look forward to this winter. NBC's "30 Rock" is returning at 8 p.m. ET Thursday for a sixth season, TNT's gritty cop drama "Southland" will be back at 10 p.m. ET January 17 for a fourth season, and the 11th season of "American Idol" resumes at 8 p.m. ET January 18 and 19 on Fox. There are also a slew of new offerings to sort through. For your channel-surfing pleasure, we've selected the good, the bad and the forgettable: . The good . • "The Firm" (debuts 9 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC): Based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, this intense and sometimes cluttered courtroom drama, follows attorney Mitchell McDeere (this time played by Josh Lucas of "The Lincoln Lawyer" instead of Tom Cruise) a decade after he brought down a prestigious Memphis law firm. Every week, Mitch will fight for his clients but with a twist because the mob wants him dead as does a shadowy organization behind one of his controversial cases. Don't worry. It sounds more complicated than it is, and Lucas is a treat to watch. • "House of Lies" (debuts 10 p.m. ET Sunday, Showtime): Don Cheadle ("Crash") and Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars") have undeniable chemistry in this testosterone heavy, raunchy comedy about a cutthroat business consultant (Cheadle). • "Alcatraz" (debuts 8 p.m. ET January 16, Fox): America's most infamous prison becomes a time-travel portal in this trippy but fun new sci-fi drama from none other than J.J. Abrams ("Lost" and "Fringe"). "Alcatraz" stars Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park") and Jorge Garcia of "Lost" fame. • "Luck" (debuts 9 p.m. ET January 29, HBO): The latest creation from David Milch ("Deadwood"), "Luck" stars Oscar-winning actor Dustin Hoffman ("Rain Man," "Kramer vs. Kramer") as a gangster of sorts. Hoffman leads a stellar cast that includes Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina in this methodical and fascinating drama about horse racing and the troubled people who inhabit that world. • "Smash" (debuts 10 p.m. ET February 6, NBC): Executive producer Steven Spielberg and NBC hope to steal the spotlight from "Glee" with this exciting new music-driven drama. "Smash" follows a Broadway musical from its planning stages to the big stage and stars Debra Messing and Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston ("Prizzi's Honor"). The bad . • "Work It" (airs 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesdays, ABC): Two unemployed men (Ben Koldyke and Amaury Nolasco) dress as women to get jobs in a sluggish economy. But "Bosom Buddies" was better when it debuted in 1980. • "Are You There, Chelsea?" (debuts 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, NBC): Based on comedic actress Chelsea Handler's best-selling and mostly autobiographical books, this mildly funny new comedy follows a 20-something (Laura Prepon of "That '70s Show") who parties as hard as she drinks. What's even less appealing is that Handler stars in the sitcom too but doesn't play herself. Good luck with that. • "Rob" (debuts 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday, CBS): This new sitcom isn't offensive because of its liberal use of stereotypes. It's offensive because it is unfunny and unoriginal. "Rob" follows a man (Rob Schneider) who marries a Latina and fails to fit in with her family. • "The River" (debuts 9 p.m. ET February 7, ABC): Bruce Greenwood ("Star Trek" the movie) stars as an explorer and wildlife TV host who goes missing in the Amazon jungle. Leslie Hope ("24") plays his wife, a woman determined to find him who heads to the Amazon with a reality TV crew and her son (Joe Anderson of "The Crazies"). Instead, she finds lots of ghosts and questions. The forgettable . • "The Finder" (debuts 9 p.m. ET Thursday, Fox): Geoff Stults ("Happy Town") and Michael Clarke Duncan ("The Green Mile") star in this dull but well-intentioned spinoff of "Bones." • "Fashion Star" (debuts 10 p.m. ET March 13, NBC): In a lopsided attempt to imitate "Project Runway," former supermodel Elle Macpherson has created this reality competition series that features celebrity mentors Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie. Yawn.

It's that time again: midseason TV series . Offerings include ABC's "Good Christian Belles" and NBC's "Smash" Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie will serve as mentors on "Fashion Star"

(CNN) -- I don't think anyone is ready for grief. But when it hits you, it knocks you out cold. I was told that tears and the sorrow would come in waves. For me, it's been more like a riptide or a tornado, constantly circling around me, whipping me in the face. Sometimes it stabs; sometimes it punches; sometimes it drowns me. My grieving process began in March, when I got a phone call from my mom while at work. She told me that my dad had suddenly stopped breathing and that I needed to get home to Louisiana as soon as possible. The seven-hour car ride felt like an eternity. As the optimist I am, I kept telling myself that my dad would pull out of it. But when I got to the hospital and saw the looks on my relatives' faces, I knew the situation was much worse than I thought. My father had a major brain hemorrhage, the kind that you don't recover from. I sat by his side for roughly 48 hours, with my siblings and my mom, holding his hand until he took his last breath. The loss didn't hit me until a few days after the funeral, when all the out-of-town relatives were gone and friends and neighbors made fewer "check-ins." My parents' home didn't feel like home anymore, just an empty space. Friends were just people who didn't understand what I was going through. First Person: My life as a little person . I had always been an incredibly social person and loved being surrounded by people. I always found a reason to smile; I always cracked jokes. But after my father's death, the world became a dark and scary place. I wanted to crawl into a dark corner and avoid everyone. This grief felt insurmountable and incredibly alienating. I went from planning a family vacation to planning a eulogy in a matter of days. It's the kind of whiplash that is emotionally and mentally paralyzing. I attempted to manage my own grief while trying to be strong for my mom and my family. And to top it all off, I had to deal with some of the more practical matters. My mother and I had to close down his real estate appraisal business, and I had to explain to client after client that my dad had passed away, previously healthy, at the age of 64. Do you have a first-person essay? Share it with CNN iReport . The resounding response was always: "What? But we just talked to him a few days ago, and he sounded fine!" I would quickly hang up the phone before they could witness my imminent breakdown. Then there was the task of planning his memorial service. My mom, my siblings and I were all in a daze as we ironed out the details. When I gave the tribute at his memorial service, I described him as the kind of guy who was "a mountain among pebbles." I needed everyone to know just how amazing he was. It's part of the reason why I am sharing this with you. My dad, Michael P. Dunne, was a real estate appraiser with a penchant for perfectionism. He was a senior Olympic volleyball player, a former coach and an avid member of an Irish marching club in New Orleans. Friends would tell you he was the life of any party. His six siblings -- older and younger -- always called him for advice on everything from real estate to relationships. He and my mom were inseparable. For me, he embodied everything good in the world. I remember when my first love dumped me in high school, he spent hours sitting with me in the middle of the night as I cried, constantly reminding me of the amazing woman I was. He baked a cake for his grandson -- my nephew Nikolas -- every year for his birthday. He wasn't even very good at baking, but he'd spend hours meticulously frosting his creation. First Person: A fat girl gets naked . Now, more than six months later, those fond memories come often. I remember sitting on the porch in the days after he died, steeped in sorrow and angry at the world. Out of nowhere, I heard my neighbors play one of my dad's favorite songs, "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers. I went from crying to laughing as I recalled a fond memory. One day, he and I were in the car and it came on the radio. We both belted the ballad out at the top of our lungs. Moments like that serve as reminders for me to live my life fully and with joy. My father lived a life full of love. And the best thing I can do to honor him is to try to do the same. Those little moments make me look at the world differently. Life is suddenly more precious, more beautiful. So many things remind me of my dad. I see the love he had for me and my family in everything. Every time I eat an apple, I'm reminded of the time we went apple-picking in North Georgia. It was late in the season, and he was the only one of us tall enough to actually grab the fruit. When the New Orleans Saints play a game, I think about how he'd yell at the TV, a trait he definitely passed down to me. I try to remind myself of how fortunate I am, to have had 27 years with this incredible man. I still have the support of my mom, and that's what keeps me going most days. She lost her husband of more than 30 years, her best friend, and yet somehow she finds the strength to be there for me daily. She and my father taught me everything I know about love and family, and she and I often lean on each other for support. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a struggle every single day. The biggest relief from the pain has been surrounding myself with photos and mementos of joyful moments. I constantly try to remind myself of a phrase I uttered in the hospital as I saw our whole family surround him to say their last goodbyes: "so much love." My father had so much love for others, and everyone I know loved him back. Some days, I still feel the blow, fresh as new. I still have my riptide moments, and some days there are tornadoes. But mostly, there's just love. And that has to be good enough for now.

In March, CNN's Jessica Dunne lost her father very suddenly . The loss hit her in waves and threw her life off-course . She wants people to know who Michael P. Dunne was, to her and to the world .

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Abu Ali is 58 years old. He could be 78, his beard gray, body frail and his face a leathery road map that traces the unimaginable horrors his family has endured. It is a face that reflects a visceral human portrait of the grinding violence in Iraq and the toll it has taken on ordinary civilians. The al-Jibouri family are not politicians, nor insurgents, nor religious radicals. They are -- or used to be -- a family of humble watermelon sellers, plying their trade with plump fruit from Mosul in their stall, barely 50 meters from their home in Baghdad. Their descent into hell began on July 23, 2007. Their son Ali -- 19 and a week away from his wedding -- was working on the family stall when one of Baghdad's ubiquitous car bombs targeted the market area. He was killed instantly. "I was a week away from marrying him off," Abu Ali sobs. "Instead I buried him." Abu Ali doesn't stop crying the entire time we are with the family. Eight thousand Iraqis died last year, according to the U.N. Iraq Body Count lists 640 civilian deaths so far in January. But numbers are anonymous and cold: to visit the al-Jibouri family is to see and feel and be suffocated by the human reality of those statistics. As the politicians play politics, and the insurgents deal in death, it is people like this who suffer the fallout, as they always do in war. Ali's devastated fiance Duaa later married Ali's brother Alaa. Together they had three children: a son, also called Ali, now aged three, and daughters Rukkaya, four, and Narjis, eight months. In July last year the family was preparing for their annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Najaf, where Ali is buried, to honor his memory. It was July 20, a Saturday, and Alaa and brother Abbas were on duty at the water melon stand. Everyone heard the bomb inside the family home. It rocked the walls and shook the ground. Alaa, 23, and Abbas, 17, were blown to pieces, along with several other people. Today, the walls by the old watermelon stand are scarred by shrapnel. Abu Ali has now lost all three sons. "No one will call me dad anymore," he wails. The funeral was well attended: hundreds of neighbors and friends turned out, disbelieving what had happened to this family. Chanting and wailing mourners carried the coffins aloft to begin Alaa and Abbas's journey to Najaf to lie alongside Ali. The children asked daily where their father was. Abu Ali and his wife, Umm Ali, at first couldn't face telling them the truth, instead saying he'd gone to Mosul for more watermelons. Eventually, of course, they had to explain that he, and their uncle, were dead. "We tell them he has gone to paradise and is watching over them, but Ali especially cannot comprehend," says Abu Ali. "When we say his father is in paradise, he just cries." Ali is clearly a traumatized boy. His sister seems happy enough, playing on a sofa with her cousin and a tattered doll. Alaa's other child, the baby daughter Narjis, was just a few weeks old when her father died. She smiles at me and touches my watch, enthralled by the shiny wristband and oblivious to her forlorn circumstances. Then Rukkaya surprises us by suddenly counting to 10 in English. We applaud her and her face lights up with pride. She counts again, and then once more. The smiles her performance brings are a rare event in this home. Ali sits nearby, his head dipping and swaying, as it's done ever since his father died. The family has a fourth son, Ammar, but after the second explosion he fell apart emotionally and was certain that one day he too would die. And then he vanished, simply disappeared. The family hasn't seen or heard from him since. Alaa's widow, Duaa, still lives with the family, or what remains of it. She hides in the kitchen during our visit, unwilling to speak about what the two car bombs took from her. Abu Ali continues to weep and lament the family's bleak future. The watermelon stand was the family's only income. They are seven months behind on the rent for their tiny three-room house on a muddy side street. Six people are crammed into the home, Abu Ali and Umm Ali, and Alaa's widow and three children. "It's like we are living in a dark place," says the grieving mother, Umm Ali. "What does one do when you lose your children? We don't go out, we keep our door closed. We want to leave and not stay in this country, but we can't afford it." "They were our bread winners," says Abu Ali. "They supported us, now I have no income, I have to now sell belongings. I haven't paid the rent for seven months. "It's hard. I think of committing suicide, but what would happen to the children? If an official loses a son, all the media covers it and the family is looked after. I have lost three sons and the fourth fled and no one cares about us." We leave Abu Ali and Umm Ali and the grandchildren they now raise and they thank us for telling their story to the world. We have no words, nothing that could possibly comfort or offer promise. Just gratitude for their courage in trying to get others outside this place to maybe understand the human cost of what goes on here. Tomorrow, or the next day, there are sure to be more bombs or bullets sending more families down the tortuous road being navigated by Abu Ali. READ MORE: Is Iraq worse than ever? READ MORE: Ex-PM says violence could 'burn up' region . READ MORE: 'Bad old days' return to Baghdad .

The humble al-Jibouri family's descent into hell began on July 23, 2007 . Abu Ali was a week away from marrying off his son, but buried him instead . In July last year, he lost two more sons to a bomb blast in Najaf . Abu Ali doesn't stop crying the entire time CNN reporters are with the family .

(CNN) -- I am a 54-year-old black woman -- a mother, lawyer and law professor. I teach at the Washington University in St. Louis Law School and live 12 miles away from Ferguson, Missouri. The median household income in my suburb is $85,000 per year. In Ferguson, it is $36,000. In my suburb, 3.5% of the people are black. In Ferguson, almost 70% are black. These are stark contrasts. Yet I share things in common with black people in Ferguson and, indeed, throughout the United States. When I shop, I'm often either ignored as a waste of time or scrutinized as a potential shoplifter. In June, my daughter and I walked into the china and crystal department at a Macy's department store. I was about to speak to the salesperson directly in front of me. She walked right past me to welcome the white woman behind us. My daughter looked at me and said: "Really? Did she just ignore us?" My daughter is a young teenager at the crossroads of "skin color doesn't matter" and "oh yes, it does." She is in transition. I felt hurt, anger and embarrassment. But this kind of encounter happens routinely. Driving, I tend to have a bit of a lead foot -- hitting 45 in a 35 mph zone. The few times I have been stopped in my suburb, the first question I'm asked is whether I live "around here." Not one of my white friends has been asked that question when they were pulled over by a police officer. Last summer, my teenage daughter was shopping with four white friends at a mall in an affluent St. Louis suburb. As they left the store, two mall security guards approached my daughter. They told her the store had called them and reported her as a shoplifter, and asked her to come with them. After a search, they found she had nothing. So far in her young life, mall security guards have stopped her on suspicion of shoplifting three times. Each time she was innocent. I also have three sons. My two oldest are 22. They are 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-4 and each weighs more than 220 pounds. One recently graduated from college; the other will graduate in 2015. The youngest is 13. All three like to wear jeans and the latest sneakers. They love hoodies. They like looking cool. These three young men have never been arrested or even been in a fight at school. Every time my sons leave the house, I worry about their safety. One of my sons loves to go out at night to clubs. I worry about potential unrest at the clubs -- yes, black-on-black crime is a problem, and despite what many people think, black people complain about it all the time in their communities and churches and in newspapers and on radio stations. I also worry about his drive home and his being stopped by police. The data in Ferguson are an example of the larger picture in the St. Louis County area. Police stop, search and arrest black people at a disproportionate rate, even though they are less likely to possess contraband than white people. This son of mine who likes to go out at night is big and tall and he has brown skin. He graduated from college in May but cannot find employment. He is an intelligent, clean-cut young man. But the negative stereotypes automatically assigned to his skin color follow him everywhere, even in job interviews, like extra weight. It reminds me of the airline employee who asks before you can check your suitcase: Did a stranger ask you to carry something or pack your bag? In my son's case, the answer is yes. He is carrying extra weight, unfairly, and without his knowledge or consent, packed in his luggage. A few years ago my husband and I went on a cruise. My older boys were teenagers at the time and were taking summer enrichment classes at a school about a mile from our home. They planned to walk to school in the morning. At the top of a long list of things to do before we left for our trip was "e-mail chief of police." I explained to the chief that my husband and I were going on a cruise, I was a member of the community and that my two sons would be walking to school. I attached pictures of the boys, explaining that only a couple of black families lived in the neighborhood. My sons did not normally walk in the neighborhood, so they would draw attention. I offered to bring my sons to the police department so officers could meet them. The police chief and I met and all went well. But I've asked myself: How many parents of white sons have thought to add to their to-do-before-leaving-town list, "Write letter to local police department, introducing sons and attaching photos, so police do not become suspicious and harass them"? Even though my older boys are men, I still worry about them. I worry about my 13-year-old. This worry is a stressful, and sadly normal, part of my daily existence. My youngest will be 6 feet tall in the coming weeks. He has brown skin. These young black men have arrows pointed and ready to shoot at them daily -- black-on-black crime, police encounters, societal bias and mistrust. Shortly after the Michael Brown shooting, I met with a group of my 13-year-old's black male friends to explain to them what happened in Ferguson, and what to do and how to respond if they are ever stopped by the police. My words reminded me of stories and fears my grandfather used to share with me about his encounters with police during the Jim Crow era. These are just a few of the many ways in which people in America are treated differently based on the color of their skin. This has been going on for a long time. I hope the events in Ferguson will encourage people to see the stark differences in the experiences of black people -- not just black people who struggle economically but also black people like me -- and white people as they go about their routine, daily lives.

Kimberly Norwood, a black woman and lawyer, lives in a suburb 12 miles from Ferguson . She has been ignored or seen as shoplifting risk in stores, as has her young daughter . She notified police when her sons were walking to school so they wouldn't harass them . Norwood hopes Ferguson will start conversation on black Americans' daily experiences .

(CNN) -- Titleholders Inter Milan relieved the pressure on under-fire manager Rafael Benitez by qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League along with Group A rivals Tottenham on Wednesday night. The Italian champions scraped a 1-0 win at home to Dutch league winners Twente to go through to the last 16 ahead of the final round of matches on December 7. Veteran Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso scored the winner in the 55th minute after Wesley Sneijder's free-kick hit the defensive wall. The Dutch midfielder had earlier hit the woodwork from a similar situation and missed an early chance from close range for injury-hit Inter. Third-placed Twente hit the crossbar through second-half substitute Denny Landzaat in the 75th minute, but now face a drop into the second-tier Europa League. England's Tottenham, playing in Europe's top club competition for the first time, remained top of the table after crushing Werder Bremen 3-0. The German club next host Inter in their final match, having only two points from five matches -- three behind Twente with a worse goal difference, meaning their European season is effectively over. Tottenham went ahead in the sixth minute when defender Younes Kaboul followed up his match-winning goal from Saturday's London derby against Arsenal to volley in a right-wing cross from winger Aaron Lennon. Croatia midfielder Luka Modric made it 2-0 in the first minute of first-half injury-time as he calmly poked in a volley after striker Peter Crouch headed down a cross from fullback Alan Hutton. Gareth Bale hit the bar with a free-kick five minutes after the break, but had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Tim Wiese soon after when Modric was fouled by Felix Kroos. However, Crouch sealed victory with 11 minutes to play as he converted Lennon's low cross after Bale's floated center hit the top of the bar. Barcelona qualified from Group D with a 3-0 victory away to Panathinaikos, which eliminated the Greek side. Winger Pedro scored twice while Leo Messi continued his sensational scoring run to give the Catalan club an unassailable 11 points from five games. Daniel Alves set Pedro free for the 27th-minute opener, firing in a low shot, then the Brazil fullback charged forward to start a super move that ended in Messi converting Adriano's cross in the 63rd minute. Six minutes later, Alves and Andres Iniesta combined to give Pedro a simple second goal. The Spanish champions finished top following Rubin Kazan's earlier 1-0 win at home to second-placed Copenhagen, which left the Russians just a point behind the Danes ahead of their trip to Barca's Nou Camp next month. Christian Noboa's penalty in first-half injury-time gave Rubin a first home win in the competition in six attempts. The club's captain scored after Bebras Natcho's free-kick was handled by veteran winger Jesper Gronkjaer, and his side held on for victory after Copenhagen's Dame N'Doye hit the crossbar and goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov denied substitute Kenneth Zohore in time added on. Manchester United qualified from Group C with a 1-0 win away to Scottish side Rangers, as Wayne Rooney scored the winner in his first start since early October. The England striker netted an 87th-minute penalty after Brazilian defender Fabio da Silva was fouled by Steven Naismith. It was Rooney's second match in four days, having come on as a substitute on Saturday following an ankle injury and the controversy over whether he would stay at the English club which ended in him signing a new five-year contract. Third-placed Rangers will now drop into the Europa League regardless of the result of their final match against Bursaspor. The Turkish club will finish bottom following the 6-1 thrashing at Valencia, who need to beat United to finish top. The Spanish side, however, are guaranteed a place in the second round following a four-goal first-half blitz at the Mestalla. Juan Mata's 17th-minute penalty was followed by the first of striker Roberto Soldado's two goals, then fellow striker Aritz Aduriz netted at the near post at the second attempt and winger Joaquin whipped a deflected effort into the top corner. Soldado rounded the keeper and fired into the roof of the net 10 minutes after halftime before Pablo Batalla converted a low cross at the far post, then Alejandro Dominguez wrapped up Valencia's win with 12 minutes left. French club Lyon went through for the eight successive year despite losing 3-0 at Schalke, who also qualified from Group B. The German side led 2-0 inside the first 20 minutes through Peruvian midfielder Jefferson Farfan and Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who capped victory with his second goal with a minute to play. Veteran Spanish striker Raul set up Farfan with a deflected pass after pouncing on an attempted clearance by Pape Diakhate, then Peer Kluge's cross provided Huntelaar with the second. Lyon had key midfielder Yoann Gourcuff stretchered off with an ankle injury in the second half, then Huntelaar's late deflected effort gave Schalke a perfect home record and put his side a point clear ahead of the December 7 trip to Portugal. Schalke will face a Benfica side who surprisingly crashed 3-0 at bottom club Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Israelis picked up their first victory to leave Benfica three points behind Lyon, as attacking midfielder Eran Zahavi scored in each half either side of defender Douglas da Silva's 74th-minute goal from a corner.

Tottenham and Inter Milan qualify for knockout stages of Champions League . Barcelona go through from Group D after eliminating Panathinaikos with 3-0 win . Manchester United and Valencia seal last-16 places with Group C victories . Lyon progress from Group B despite 3-0 defeat at Schalke, who also qualify .

(CNN) -- A New York Times article has reported that the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have launched airstrikes in Libya against militias, without coordinating with their ally, the United States of America. Both Egypt and the United Arab Emirates continue to deny that they were responsible for the strikes, while American officials insist otherwise. Yet, political cover could have been fairly easily provided if Egypt and the UAE had wanted to strike with less fallout. Allegations they carried out the strikes come against backdrop of international concern over radical Islamism in Iraq and Syria, which have led to U.S. airstrikes already, in co-ordination with the Iraqi government. Some of the Libyan Islamist militias openly express sympathy for ISIS counterparts in Iraq and Syria, and a newly elected Libyan government already calling for at least some kind of international intervention to restore order, although they've stopped short of openly calling for military strikes. Any airstrikes, however, taking place without the consent of the national government of a country, could only be described as violating state sovereignty. Of course, the Libyan state has been characterized as close to, if not already in the throes of, complete failure for the last three years. The Gadhafi regime over three decades ensured there was no state to speak of, but only institutions closely associated with him and his coterie. When he fell, the revolutionary forces had the awesome challenge of building a state where there had been none -- and in the past three years, they have been unable to succeed in accomplishing that fundamental goal. In the midst of that void, different groups have tried to acquire as much power on Libyan territory as possible. It is difficult to describe the differences in simple terms -- there are regional and tribal divides, as well as support for Islamist militants and conservative, non-secularist but also non-Islamist, opposition to them. Secularist groups, unlike in Tunisia, for example, do not particularly exist in Libya -- Libyan society at large is tremendously religiously conservative. Some of that conservatism expresses itself in support for Islamist groups that range from the Libyan chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and more extreme groupings like Ansar al-Sharia who have articulated sympathy for ISIS. Representatives of non-Islamist groups swept recent parliamentary elections, which indicate they have substantially more popularity than the pro-Islamist camp at present. Unfortunately, both Islamists and non-Islamists alike have given rise to militias, which only deepens the difficulty for taking Libya through its transition to democracy. The void of a popularly supported state has also made it easier for outside powers to engage in Libyan affairs. From early on in the Libyan uprising, Qatar and Turkey have built alliances and provided support for particular groupings within the country -- and the Emiratis and others did the same. Three years on, the country remains tremendously unstable -- but it now exists in a region where a truly radical Islamist movement has shown itself capable, if only temporarily, taking control of swathes of Iraq and Syria. The fears of a similar movement taking over Libya are genuinely felt in Cairo, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in the region -- and after the U.S. engaged so openly in striking against a radical Islamist movement in Iraq, it would perhaps be unsurprising if others in the region had felt they were within their rights to do the same in Libya. There is another aspect, however, to American involvement in the region. On the one hand, American airstrikes in Iraq may have emboldened advocates of a more interventionist approach in Libya. On the other hand, American non-involvement in Syria, which arguably contributed to the rise of ISIS, may have done the same -- providing support for the narrative that if you leave radical Islamists alone, they're likely to develop into far more powerful actors as ISIS has become. U.S. influence . The rising of the stakes of the conflict in Libya may not necessarily signal a waning of American influence -- if Washington wanted to engage more forcefully in the region, either unilaterally and multilaterally, it possesses enough political capital in the region to do so. In the absence of political will to proceed in that fashion, others will step into the vacuum -- and others have. Since at least 2012, Qatar and Turkey have consistently supported Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies in countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere. The UAE and Saudi led the charge in supporting non-Islamist groups, although at times there was common cause, such as against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. They were joined by Egypt after the military removal of Mohamed Morsy in 2013, and most other Arab governments after that point seem to have either tacitly or openly joined the non-Islamist axis. Much of this has less to do with ideology than it appears, and more to do with the fear of any type of change from the status quo that could devolve into mass instability. At present, that fear is most associated with Islamist movements. Mideast polarization . What needs to happen in Libya is perhaps what needs to happen, in another fashion, across the Middle East. The polarization of the region into these two camps has taken place at the worst of times -- when the region is facing some of its greatest challenges in decades. The polarization between these two sides has repercussions and consequences, which are likely to take a very deep toll in countries like Libya, but also elsewhere, in terms of blood and chaos. It has never been more important than for these two camps to work together, as much as possible, to support Libya's newly elected government, and to use their combined influence and capital to reinforce a political process in Libya that does not rely on the use of arms. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be likely in the interim -- and it will be the Libyan people, who have already suffered so much in the past three years, who will pay the price. The effects of Gadhafi's rule still haunt them.

The New York Times reports the UAE and Egypt launched air strikes in Libya . Egypt, the UAE deny the reports, but the U.S. says it understands they did strike . Amid the threat of ISIS, some regional powers fear extremists in Libya, says H.A. Hellyer . Libyans are caught between supporters of Islamist groups, those who fear them, he says .

Rome (CNN) -- A crooked Somali cop may have been the one who made the kidnapping of two foreign aid workers in October possible, the safety adviser for their employer told CNN. U.S. military forces rescued Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Thisted, 60, on Wednesday after they spent three months in captivity. Now in Sicily, the aid workers are to be reunited with their spouses. Buchanan and Thisted were traveling in Somalia as workers for the Danish Refugee Council at the time of their kidnapping. Fredrik Palsson, the group's global safety adviser, revealed new details about how the pair were captured. Nongovernmental organizations such as Danish Refugee Council are required to have security while traveling in certain parts of Somalia. The Somali government provides protection, not private security companies, Palsson said. Known as special protection units, these guards operate only in specific areas, and so aid workers must change vehicles and switch guards when they cross from one region to the next, he said. "What happened was that one of the guards, he was sold out, and he had as a mission: to capture expatriates," Palsson said. The kidnappers paid off one officer, who replaced the regular guards with others who were in on the corruption, he said. "And as they came close to the changeover position, then they were stopped, and then they were moved into other vehicles and they were driven away," he said. Meanwhile, the U.S. military said that the two rescued aid workers need time out of the media spotlight to recover. The workers' health and welfare are the top priority, the military statement said, appealing to journalists to respect the privacy of the freed hostages and their families. "It is extremely important that they have the chance to decompress from this event without the pressure of instant overwhelming public notoriety," it said. In a joint statement issued through the Danish Refugee Council, Buchanan's and Thisted's families expressed relief the two were rescued unharmed. "We are grateful for all the efforts that have been put into getting them safely back to us and for the fact that a very difficult chapter in our lives is over," it said. "We need to look ahead now, and it is going to take time for us all to adjust and to return to normal life. We would like to thank all media for having respected our needs for privacy, and we request for everyone to continue to show us this respect and to give us time and privacy, which is all we need now." The reintegration process allows the Defense Department to gather critical information while taking care of the freed captives, the military said. "The process ensures returnees have the best chance to return to their previous lives following this significant event," it said. The two hostages were freed in a dramatic overnight rescue operation. U.S. special operations forces parachuted into Somalia from airplanes early Wednesday, advanced on foot to a compound where the two kidnapped workers were being held and then freed them, U.S. officials said. The nine gunmen holding the hostages were killed, officials said. The kidnappers seized Buchanan and Thisted on October 25 in the central Somali town of Galkayo after they visited humanitarian projects there, the Danish Refugee Council said. Neither was harmed, the aid group said. Buchanan's father, John, was to go to Sicily to see her, CNN learned. She will be returned to the United States when she wants, probably in a U.S. military aircraft. Somalia's transitional government welcomed the U.S. military operation. The rescue "is a great joy to the Somali government and to all Somalis as well as to all right thinking people everywhere," the government said in a statement. "Hitting them hard is the only language kidnappers of innocent people, pirates and terrorists understand, and every opportunity should be taken to wipe out this scourge from our country." The new U.N. envoy to Somalia -- the first permanent U.N. representative there in 17 years -- also expressed understanding about the military operation. "If negotiations fail, all means must be applied, including rescue operations," Augustine Mahiga said Thursday, even as he urged that lives be protected "on both sides." Thisted's sister and brother-in-law wept for joy when they heard he had been rescued, the brother-in-law, Svend Rask, told Denmark's TV2. "She was overjoyed when she told us what happened," Rask said, speaking of the daughter who gave them the news. The Navy SEAL unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year in Pakistan participated in the rescue mission, a U.S. official said, without specifying whether any of the same individuals were on both assaults. The SEALs are part of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, formerly known as SEAL Team Six. The area where the hostages were seized is known as a hub for pirates, rather than an area of Islamic militant activity. Somalia Report, a website that tracks piracy statistics, said more than $150 million was paid out in ransoms in 2011. Successful pirate attacks on merchant vessels began to drop off in 2011 in face of improved shipping security -- including on board armed security detachments -- and stronger action from the foreign navies patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. The International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy, said the number of attacks had risen but the success rate had plummeted to 12% in the first nine months of 2011. The aid workers were part of the Danish Refugee Council's de-mining unit, which aims to make civilians safe from land mines and unexploded ordnance. Buchanan has been employed as a regional education adviser with the mine clearance unit since May; Thisted, a community safety manager with the de-mining unit, has been working in Somaliland and Somalia since June 2009. CNN's Brian Todd, Dugald McConnell and Livia Borghese contributed to this report.

NEW: Danish Refugee Council official says bribed guard made kidnapping possible . Aid workers Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted are at a U.S. base in Sicily . The reintegration process will help the two readjust to normal life, the U.S. military says . They were freed in a daring rescue by U.S. special operations troops in Somalia .

(CNN) -- It has been 20 years since filmmaker Michael Moore took on General Motors in "Roger and Me." He's still sticking it to big business for what he sees as the deliberate shafting of the little guy. Filmmaker Michael Moore says Wall Street created a "invisible virtual casino" with people's money. His new film, "Capitalism: A Love Story," opened Wednesday in New York and Los Angeles, California, and opens nationwide next week. Moore talked with CNN's Larry King about whether capitalism is key to the American dream or the cause of an American nightmare. The following is an edited version of the interview. Larry King: You describe this movie as the culmination of all the films you've made. Does that mean this is it? Michael Moore: No. I hope not. It means that, for 20 years, as you said, I've been doing this. I started out by showing people what General Motors was up to and how this was a company that was making a lot of bad decisions and it wasn't good for the company nor for the country. That was 20 years ago. And since then, I've covered a number of issues and different things. But it all seems to come back to this one issue of "follow the money." Who's got the money? And whoever has the money has the power. And right now, in America, tonight, Larry, the richest 1 percent have more financial wealth than the bottom 95 percent combined. King: You're in that 1 percent, though? Moore: I don't think I'm in that 1 percent, but I make documentary films. But I mean, obviously, I do well because my films have done well. But, you know, even if I were, I think it's my responsibility -- my moral duty that if I've done well, that I have to make sure that everybody else. King: Does well too or has a chance? Moore: Well, has at least a chance but that -- and that the pie is divided fairly amongst the people and not just a few people get the majority of the loot and everybody else has to struggle for the crumbs. King: Are you saying capitalism is a failure? Moore: Yes. Capitalism. Yes. Well, I don't have to say it. Capitalism, in the last year, has proven that it's failed. All the basic tenets of what we've talked about the free market, about free enterprise and competition just completely fell apart. As soon as they lost, essentially, our money, they came running to the federal government for a bailout -- for welfare, for socialism. And I thought the basic principle of capitalism was that it's a sink-or-swim situation. And those who do well, the cream rises to the top and, you know, those who invest their money wrongly or, you know, don't run their business the right way, then they don't do well. Watch Moore talk about corporate greed . And if you run your business the wrong way, where does it say that you or I or anybody watching this has to bail them out? I understand why everybody seemed to get behind it, because a lot of people were afraid, because these people down on Wall Street had taken our money and made bets with it. I mean, they essentially created this invisible virtual casino with people's money -- people's pension funds, people's 401(k)s. They took this money and they made bets. And then they made bets on the bets. And then they took out insurance policies on the bets. And then they took out insurance against the insurance -- the credit default swaps. King: You started filming before Lehman Brothers went belly up. Moore: Yes. King: The stock market tanked. Now, how did the events, as it occurred, affect the movie? Did it change gears? Moore: It didn't change in terms of what I was looking at, but it did, obviously, offer probably the best example of why this is a system that is really corrupt at its core -- corrupt because it doesn't, it isn't run with democratic -- small "d" -- democratic principles. There's no democracy in our economy. You and I and the people watching have no say in how this economy is run. The upper 1 percent, the people down on Wall Street, the corporate executives, they're the people that control this economy. King: And they don't want to see the economy do well? They don't want to see people... Moore: Oh, they sure do. King: Don't they want people to make money so they can buy the products? I mean it's silly if they want people unemployed? Moore: Oddly enough, yes. King: Why? Moore: I'll tell you why. Because your employees are your biggest expense. And, as you've noticed in the last few months, as the unemployment rate has gone up, so has the Dow Jones. Now, you'd think, you know, that Wall Street would respond with "Oh, my God, unemployment is going up, you know, this is bad for business." But the reality is, is that Wall Street likes that. They like it when companies fire people because immediately the bottom line is going to show a larger profit. King: Are you saying the investor is more important than the employee? Moore: Yes. The investor -- and the investor, these days, they want the short-term, quick profit and they want it now. But in the long-term, here's what happened. When I was on this show 20 years ago, 20 years ago this week, I was here with "Roger and Me". King: I remember. Moore: And General Motors, that year, made a profit of $4 billion. And yet they had just laid off another 30,000 people. Now, why would you lay people off when you're making a record profit of $4 billion? I mean that was totally insane. But they thought, well, you know, we can make a bigger profit. Maybe we can make $4.2 billion if we move those jobs to Mexico. And so they're always, you know, we can make a little bit more money if we do this. By firing those workers, Larry, they got rid of the very people who buy their cars.

Filmmaker Michael Moore takes on capitalism in his latest documentary . Moore says Wall Street took our money and made bets with it . Moore: Richest 1 percent in America are wealthier than bottom 95 percent combined .

New York (CNN) -- The federal government moved Thursday to seize assets belonging to the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corp., including a Manhattan skyscraper and four mosques, citing alleged links to the Iranian government. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Thursday's filing of an amended civil complaint seeking forfeiture of the Alavi Foundation's interest in the 36-story office tower located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The tower is owned by 650 Fifth Avenue Company, a partnership between the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., the Justice Department said. The amended complaint alleges that the Alavi Foundation provided services to the Iranian government and transferred money from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli, Iran's largest state-owned financial entity. U.S. and European Union officials last year designated Bank Melli as a proliferator for supporting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and funneling money to the Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force, considered terrorist groups by the United States. Bank Melli issued a statement last year denying involvement in any deceptive banking practices. Thursday's amended complaint seeks forfeiture of all assets of the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., including bank accounts owned by 650 Fifth Avenue Company, the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp.; and properties owned by the foundation in New York, Maryland, Virginia, Texas and California. It alleges that the properties were "involved in and [were] the proceeds of money laundering offenses," and that the owners violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, executive orders and U.S. Department of Treasury regulations. "As today's complaint alleges in great detail, the Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran," Bharara said. "For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws. The Alavi Foundation's former president remains under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice, and both the criminal and civil investigations are ongoing." John Winter, a New York lawyer representing the Alavi Foundation, said his client would challenge the complaint. "We're obviously disappointed that the government brought this action because we have been cooperating with the government since this investigation began about a year ago and we intend to litigate this matter," he said in a telephone interview. "It may take some time, but at the end of this litigation, we're of the mind that we're going to prevail here." The buildings remained open and were continuing to operate as usual. "There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants," said Yusill Scribner, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in a written statement. "The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today's filing." According to the complaint, the New York tower was built in the 1970s by a nonprofit organization operated by the Shah of Iran to pursue the country's charitable interests in the United States. Bank Melli financed its construction in prime real estate near Rockefeller Center. In 1979, after the Iranian revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran established the Bonyad Mostazafan of New York, since renamed the Alavi Foundation, to take possession of and manage property it had expropriated from the former government, including the Fifth Avenue building. Calls to the Iranian Mission were not immediately returned. The mosques are in New York, Maryland, California and Texas. At the Islamic Institute of New York in Queens, two worshipers said they found out about the move Thursday as they arrived for evening prayers. The front page of the court document stating the terms of the case was tacked to the front door accompanied by a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office to the Mostazafan Foundation. A senior Justice Department official, trying to blunt any criticism from Muslim groups, told reporters that the government is moving against the Iranian landlords of the buildings, not targeting or "seizing mosques" as religious-oriented facilities. The mosques just happen to be among the tenants of the buildings in question, the official said. But, in a statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the move unprecedented and said it may have First Amendment implications. "Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. He said the move comes at a bad time, given the community's fear of a backlash resulting from a Muslim psychiatrist being charged in the deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood in Texas. Relations between Iran and much of the international community have been tense in recent years over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iran states that it wants to develop its nuclear program solely for peaceful purposes; the United States and a number of other countries have said they suspect the oil-rich nation is pursuing a nuclear bomb. In another U.S.-Iran development, President Obama said Thursday in a letter to Congress that the national emergency with respect to Iran that was declared in 1979 during the Iranian revolution has not ended. "Our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal, and the process of implementing the January 19, 1981, agreements with Iran is still under way," Obama wrote in an official "notice of continuation" required to extend the emergency status with Iran beyond the anniversary date of November 14. "For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared on November 14, 1979, with respect to Iran, beyond November 14, 2009." CNN's Terry Frieden, Brian Todd, Deb Feyerick, Eddie DeMarche and Ross Levitt contributed to this story.

Alavi Foundation, Assa Corp. accused of transferring money to Iran . U.S. Attorney: "Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran" Companies own 3 mosques, have interest in New York skyscraper . U.S. wants company to forfeit the mosques and skyscraper .

(CNN) -- In September 1970, a 28-year-old Jochen Rindt led the Formula One World Championship heading into the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. A crash during the final practice session ahead of the race took the life of the man in pole position for the title, whilst at the same time providing him with a unique position in sporting history. Rindt's supremacy in the drivers' championship was such that, despite his death, none of his fellow racers could overhaul his lead in the standings, making Jochen the only posthumous world champion in Formula One. In a strange twist of fate, the Austrian lost his life in almost the same place on the Monza track as his childhood icon, German driver Wolfgang von Trips -- after a brake failure on his Lotus saw him crash into the famous Parabolica curve at nearly 150 mph. Author of "Jochen Rindt: Der erste Popstar der Formel 1," Herbert Völker recalls a man who, prior to his fatal crash, boosted the profile of the entire sport. "Motorsport, at least in Europe, stayed in a quiet corner," Völker told CNN. "It took a new type of personality to give it broader attendance. There were only two guys who fit that picture; the Scotsman Jackie Stewart and Jochen Rindt." Völker believes Jochen -- who was orphaned as an infant when his parents were killed in a bombing raid -- had a star quality that transcended the sport. "He did have a very special face that you wouldn't forget easily," he said. "He married a beautiful girl from Finland and he was outspoken in a way that had nothing to do with the identical phrases of sports champions. "And of course he was a spectacular driver. He had a sense for car control that allowed him to master situations that had rarely been seen before, not to mention afterwards." Fittingly, Völker believes Rindt's finest victory was his last, the first F1 grand prix to be held at Hockenheim in 1970. The track had taken the life of the legendary Scottish racer Jim Clark two years previously, and the German Grand Prix was only switched to the new venue on the insistence of the drivers, who believed it was a safer alternative to the Nurburgring. Heading into the race, Rindt lead Australian Jack Brabham by 11 points in the drivers' championship, but both were behind Ferrari's Jacky Ickx on the grid, with the Belgian driver starting in pole position. "[Rindt] in the Lotus, and Jacky Ickx were close," recalls Völker. "In their top speed and everything. They overtook each other 30 or 40 times, and in such a fair manner that they used their fingers to show which the side the other one could overtake safely. "To point out which side was safer was a fine, fine way of racing. It was perfect for the spectators and they loved it. In the end Jochen won by tenths of a second and it was just fantastic." Such acts of sportsmanship were typical of a golden generation of drivers such as Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Stewart, Ickx and Rindt according to Volker. And between Rindt and Stewart's there was friendship to accompany the rivalry: "He was a great friend and he had a great sense of humor," Stewart told CNN. "We traveled together a lot, to and from races because we were both living in Switzerland from 1968. We were living 300 meters apart [on Lake Geneva], so Jochen was a close friend, and Nina (Jochen's wife) still is." Despite the highly competitive arena in which they dueled, Stewart believes the dangers in F1 during that time contributed to respect between drivers. "Motor racing in those days was very dangerous," he said. "During my period, if you raced in Formula One for five years there was only a one in three chance you were going to live. "The respect you had for other drivers was absolutely paramount, and that relationship extended from our friendship to our respect of each other on the track. "I cannot think of one occasion when Jochen and I were racing hard together and conducted ourselves in anything other than the correct and appropriate fashion." One of those occasions was the British Grand Prix in 1969, where Jochen was on pole, with his close friend right behind him. "We had 30 lead changes between him and I, in one race. That's not even heard of today. "It was slipstreaming, it was passing. We used it intelligently; we were using the track correctly and behaving correctly. That doesn't mean we were old fashioned at all, it means we were intelligent and respectful." At the end of race, Stewart beat off the challenge from Rindt who eventually settled for fourth place. "One of my great memories is being able to race as close as we did that day with someone who was also my close friend. That's a lasting memory for me." It was Stewart who lost his title to Rindt in 1970, a for the Scot there was no more deserving opponent. "The combination of Jochen Rindt and the Lotus in 1970 was, in my opinion unbeatable. In his time, Jochen was one of the top two or three drivers in the world," he said. Lotus -- who are sponsored by CNN -- re-entered Formula One at the start of the 2010 season, following a 16-year break from the sport. Team principal Tony Fernandes said his team owe a debt to Rindt's talent. "Jochen Rindt holds a very special place in the hearts of all Formula One and Lotus fans," said Fernandes. "He showed his God-given skills in F1, winning and doing so with style. "At Lotus Racing we know we are standing on the shoulders of giants when racing with the Lotus name. We are all very proud to play our part in helping keep his memory alive."

Jochen Rindt won the Formula One World Championship in 1970 . Rindt became the first driver to win the title posthumously . An exhibition at the Westlicht Gallery commemorated the 40th anniversary of his death . Jackie Stewart: "Jochen was one of the top two or three drivers in the world"

(CNN) -- Oklahoma City's Western Heights High School recently hosted some kids from Upward Bound. The visitors took the stage to urge students to stand up for kids who are bullied at school. Eighteen-year-old Marisa Velasco shared her story with CNN's "American Morning's" Carol Costello, explaining that she knows how it feels, not only to be bullied, but also to bully. Carol Costello: You also said that you were a bully? Marisa Velasco: Yes. Costello: What do you mean by that? Velasco: I mean, in middle school, I felt superior. I mean I had my clique and like there were a lot of us, I mean I can't really think of any right now, but I do remember putting somebody down. I do remember saying mean words, hurtful words to them. But now I know that they do stick with you and that people do take it to heart. And that it does affect people. Costello: When you were calling people names did it make you feel better? Read CNN's complete coverage on bullying . Velasco: It's not that it made me feel better; it's that I knew they felt worse. Costello: And when you think back on it now do you have any clue why you would do something like that? Velasco: I don't really know. I think it just got to me, the whole eighth grade "you're superior" thing. Yeah, and when you get to high school you're back to the bottom, and it's like, "OK, got to start all over." Costello: Is it worse in junior high than it is in high school? Velasco: High school I would say was the worst for me... is the worst for me. Costello: When you were in junior high, and you were the bully, were there kids who you picked on who you just didn't like for any real reason? Velasco: Um, I don't really know if there was a real reason. I guess it was just an easy target I guess. Costello: Is it because other kids were making fun of those kids, too? Velasco: Yeah, there were a lot of others also bullying. Costello: Sort of like a mob mentality? Velasco: Yeah. ... Costello: So If someone were to come up to you and say, "You know, look, that's really not a very nice thing to do. Stop making fun of this kid." What would you have said? Velasco: I would have said, "Back off. It's my business and not yours." And that's how high school is right now. Nobody should get in any other person's business. 'Cause it's a one on one thing, or even if it's others, it's personal. ... Costello: So more than one person should come up to the person to say stop? Does it take three? Does it take four? Velasco: Well, one person can be the right person. Costello: What do you mean? Velasco: Well, I actually did have someone come up to me and say that isn't right. And [they asked] why is the reason you are going against them? And I really didn't have a reason, so like, whoa ... so ... I shouldn't. Have you ever been bullied? Share your story . Costello: So someone made you aware of what you were doing? And you were like, "Why am I doing that?" Velasco: Yeah, it was pretty much like I don't have a reason to ... just because they don't like them, I shouldn't like them. That's not right. Costello: So now you're taking part in this effort with Upward Bound and you're trying to fight bullying because you've been both the victim and the bully. So you bring a really great perspective, I think, to the group. So what advice would you have for kids in school? Velasco: The No. 1 thing is to accept others -- how they are, who they really are, how they dress, how they really act. That's the No. 1 thing. If you can't accept people, then you're going to have a problem. Costello: If one kid sees another kid bullying, what should that kid do? Velasco: Stand up, not stand by. Costello: So you should be brave enough to go up to someone and say that's not right. Velasco: Exactly. Costello: And sometimes that's all it takes? Velasco: I think that it would make them the target, but together ... I think there is power in numbers and you can do it together. You can actually put a stop to it and go forward and be the helping hand. Costello: Is it more effective for another student to approach a bully instead of another teacher? Velasco: I think that when it's student-to-student there would be a conflict. And when it's a teacher and it's up to them, they stop it for a while. So you don't know when it's really going to go on. And it's going to keep on going. If it's a student that goes up to them, it depends -- it does get to them. They get the message even if it's wrong or right. Costello: A lot of schools are throwing assemblies and they have a lot of guest speakers saying that you shouldn't bully and that it's wrong. Does that get through to someone who bullies? Velasco: To me personally, I would listen and I would get pumped up in the assemblies. But as soon as I walked out the door, it was something different. It didn't really, like, stick to me. Costello: So the more effective thing to do is have kids speaking at these assemblies rather than adults or teachers? Velasco: I think being on the same level helps out a lot. Costello: And what words do they need to use? Velasco: That -- what does it get you? Why are you doing that? Accept others. Be somebody. Be the change. Be the solution.

Marisa Velasco says she used to bully kids and call them names . Says bullying isn't about making yourself feel better but making others feel worse . Other students should stand up against bullies and let them know that what they're doing is hurtful . Schools are holding assemblies to address and prevent bullying .

(CNN)There were a number of grim surprises from the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, including their brutality, the inability of French intelligence to track known jihadis, and now of course the puzzling, indeed incomprehensible, fact that the Obama administration failed to send a high level representative to yesterday's national anti-terror rally in Paris. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Paris later this week, but that the administration could have been so tone deaf in missing a this weekend's chance to highlight its concerns over an issue critical to Europe and America's own security-- is a stunning oversight. It suggests an inability to see the Paris attacks in their proper perspective -- although doing so is admittedly no easy matter only days afterward. As Washington and others process those events, there are takeaways that should guide their thinking in the period ahead. They include: . Don't panic . The jihadis aren't taking over the world. After 9/11, many had an overriding sense that more successful attacks would follow. They didn't. In fact both in Europe and the U.S., it's stunning how few successful attacks directed by foreign terrorist organizations there have been (not one since 2005 in Europe; and not one since 9/11 in the U.S.) Last year, there were 17,958 global fatalities to terror, according to the University of Maryland's Global Terrorism Database. Among them, there were 16 Americans. Almost 82% of the terrorist attacks happened in only five countries: Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. But don't trivialize . Terrorism emerging from the Arab and Muslim world, along with weapons of mass destruction, may well be to the 21st century what the cold war was to last century: the international community's defining national security challenge. Just look what else occurred over the past week or so: 2,000 people were killed by Boko Haram's savagery. There's no winning the battle against jihadi terror or "ultimately defeating" it. A perfect storm of jihadi fantasies driven by hatred and triumphalism, and growing Shia-Sunni divisions, have combined with a dysfunctional Arab world that offers up either no governance or bad governance. And this will continue to produce alienation, radicalization and violence. The war on jihadi terrorism really is a war; but of a generational character. It will be with us for years to come. We can contain, preempt and try to prevent it. But we cannot hermetically seal our borders or eliminate our vulnerability without undermining and sacrificing our freedoms and way of life . Don't romanticize . The outpouring of goodwill and solidarity that has followed the Paris attacks is an encouraging sign. And if it leads to greater international resolve, more effective security cooperation, smart counter-terrorism and an effort in France -- and in Europe -- to reduce discrimination against Muslims and promote greater acceptance of Jews, it will help contain the jihadi threat. But you don't change a nation in a single traumatic act. 9/11 didn't do it; Newtown didn't; Ferguson didn't. And the Paris attacks won't either. Anti-Muslim and anti-immigration sentiment, along with the rise of the far right, has been developing for years. A new tolerance won't come easy. Ironically, the same democratic values and freedom of expression and movement that the West defends will be used by jihadis -- and the alienated Muslim communities on which they feed -- to sustain their radical effort. Don't let Muslims and Arabs off the hook . Arab governments, the Arab League, the head of Al-Azhar University in Cairo and various Muslim clerics have issued statements denouncing the Paris attacks, and various Arab and Muslim leaders attended yesterday's national rally in Paris. All of this is important. But let's be clear: . For far too long a disturbing minority of Arabs and Muslims have hijacked a religion in the service of a radical jihad. And as they did this, too many other Muslims have been passive, silent, and acquiescent, failing to condemn them and thus allowing them latitude to operate. Arab governments have sometimes repressed jihadi ideology, but other times -- as in the case of Saudi Arabia, itself a victim of terror-- tried to accommodate it. Or both. Meanwhile anti-Semitic cartoons and tropes routinely circulate in the Arab and Muslim press. There is an ongoing struggle within Islam between Sunni and Shia, moderates and radicals, modernists and traditionalists that is far from being resolved. Islam's reformation is nowhere near at hand. And until there is a clearer separation between religion and the state, better governance, respect for freedom of expression and freedom of conscience, and genuine tolerance and regard for minority rights, radicalism will flourish. No U.S. narrative or externally generated reform effort can delegitimize the jihadis; only the Muslims themselves can do that. Don't just externalize . The failures of Arab and Muslim governments are to blame for jihadi terror. But there's no doubt that Western policies and practices have made an already bad situation worse. It is the cruelest of ironies that the U.S.-- the victim of mass terror on 9/11 -- helped enable the jihadis further with its ill-considered and unwise invasion of Iraq. One result was the creation of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Anger toward the West runs deep in this broken and dysfunctional region. U.S. relationships with allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, feed the jihadi narrative, as do effective counterterrorism methods such as drone strikes that that kill innocents and often and alienate the mainstream Muslims as well. America is in a no-win situation. Whatever else we try to achieve in this broken, angry, and dysfunctional region, our overriding goal must be to prevent attacks on the U.S. and help our allies do the same. What happened in Paris is a tragic reminder of how challenging this will be.

Aaron David Miller: Obama's absence from Paris was tone deaf . He says one lesson of attack: Don't let Arab, Muslim nations tolerant of jihad off the hook . Miller: Anger of some in Muslim world at West can't be trivialized. It's challenge of our time .

(CNN) -- A call for Smurfs brought together 1,253 dressed-up-in-blue people in County Monaghan, Ireland. A 4,703-pound cheesecake rolled out in Mexico City. A 7-year-old Michigan boy made a ball of plastic wrap that's 11 feet across. Anthony Victor of India has hair measuring 7.12 inches sprouting from the center of his outer ears. Meanwhile, in Ellensburg, Washington, 13-year-old Brenden Adams is having a hard time fitting into cars. At 7 feet 4.6 inches, Adams -- who as a kindergartner was taller than his teacher -- has made it into the Guinness World Records 2010 book, released Thursday, as the tallest teenage boy. It's a stature he said was earned simply because his 12th chromosome split in half. And while the height has its perks -- "You don't get picked on as much" -- he wishes strangers wouldn't stare. "I'm another person, just like everybody else," said Adams, who doesn't play basketball -- two knee replacements insured that -- and prefers to hang out with friends, camp and ride dirt bikes. The tallest teenage boy is one of about 4,000 records listed in this year's book -- a number that accounts for a mere 10 percent of all the mind-blowing stats that make up the Guinness World Records database, said Stuart Claxton, a spokesman for the organization that began publishing feats in 1955. See more world record holders . From the obscure (Most balloons inflated with a nose? 308) to the old standbys (Lucia Zarate, who died in 1890, still holds the record for lightest adult at 4.7 pounds), it's the reference-book gift that keeps on giving. So why would someone set out to spend the most time in a bumper car (record: 24 hours), or solve the most Rubik's Cubes in one hour (record: 185)? "It's an innate part of our psyche as human beings to explore how far we can push the boundaries," said Claxton, who's been with Guinness World Records since 2000. "We're intrigued by extremes in our daily life" and by "the things we're not familiar with." iReport.com: Follow updates on "Le Grande Bebe" Jake Lonsway of Bay City, Michigan, was only 6 when high school students in his area set out to assemble the largest group of people wearing Groucho Marx glasses. A snowstorm killed the attempt, but the idea of setting a record became an obsession for the young boy, his mom Julie Grames said. "I told him, 'We'll get a bunch of books, and we'll see if there's anything we can do,' " she said. Building a ball of plastic wrap was where they landed. And what started with a softball-sized ball grew and grew and grew into a 281-pound monstrosity, earning Lonsway, now 9, a spot in this year's record book. "It does take up a nice corner of the garage," Grames said with a laugh. And when people comment on how "cool" it is, she said her husband's response is always the same: "You want it? Take it." iReport.com: Massive chess board with human pieces . Claxton, of Guinness, has seen everything from the innocuous to the extreme and dangerous. He's watched a motorcycle rider crash -- and survive -- trying to outdo the ramp-to-ramp distance jump, just one of the "pushing the envelope" moments that helped him "realize just how out there the world of record breaking can be," he said. Some images might be hard to take in at first. "Over 1,000 piercings in the human body is something you have to get used to looking at," Claxton said. And while the most tattooed man -- 99 percent of his body is covered -- "may not be my cup of tea," he said that when it comes to categories there's something for everyone. Lee Redmond, 68, of Salt Lake City, Utah, earned the top berth for longest fingernails after not cutting them from 1979 onward. As of the last record-setting measurement, her nails were 28-foot long in total, the longest being her left index fingernail that came in at 3-foot, Claxton said. But a car accident in February of this year left her nails broken and her hands much freer, the Guinness spokesman said. iReport.com: World's largest rocking chair? "They were such a part of her," he said, before describing Redmond's attitude as "very stoic," and her take on the broken nails this way: "If something like that had to happen, it had to happen. Someone somewhere had decided enough is enough." This year's book release includes a look at the top 100 records of this century's first decade, Claxton added, as well as beefed up offerings on the Guinness World Records Web site, which is also where wannabe record holders can find out how to compete and get recognized -- if not now, then in the next book's edition. Since the current record-holding Smurfs gathered in Ireland and after the 2010 book went to press, for example, 2,510 ambitious blue ones amassed in a nightclub in Wales. iReport.com: Large gathering of "Waldos" Does Claxton have his own eyes on a record prize? "I want to spin a quarter for the longest time possible," he said, adding that the current record is 19.34 seconds. "That's the one I want to get."

1,253 Smurfs gather in Ireland, find place in Guinness World Records 2010 book . Released Thursday, the record book lists 4,000 eyebrow-raising tidbits . "I'm another person, just like everybody else," tallest teenage boy says . Woman who grew fingernails for about 30 years loses them in car accident .

(CNN) -- Terry McMillan writes best-selling fiction, but it was real-life drama -- a very public divorce -- that garnered her some of her biggest headlines. The nasty split with ex-husband Jonathan Plummer, the inspiration for the popular novel and movie "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," was dissected everywhere, from book blogs to "The Oprah Winfrey Show." A lawsuit, fraud allegations and public accusations all played out like plot points in one of her novels. A lot has changed since then. "I just ended up realizing I had become this other person that I didn't like," McMillan said. She is now friends with her ex ("I just spoke to Jonathan on the phone yesterday") and has set out to explore other family dramas in her trademark candid and funny style. Her new book, "Who Asked You?," explores grandparents raising grandchildren -- a topic that has long fascinated her. "One of the reasons that I write is because I'm more interested in looking, as opposed to looking away," McMillan said. In the book, Betty Jean, or BJ, is the matriarch of a family that includes an ailing husband, two sisters, a son in jail, a daughter on drugs and a son who is trying to forget where he came from. It delves into a serious topics from 15 viewpoints, an ambitious exploration of the inner lives of characters that are not normally given a voice. Though it touches on drug abuse, coming out of the closet and prison sentences, "Who Asked You?" still features the typical McMillan humor and smart dialogue, connecting the themes through family and friendship. And while she insists her personal life has been an inspiration for her fiction, it is not the template. "A lot of the characters I write about aren't like me, with the exception there might be snippets or little particles of their personality that I might identify with," she said. "The fact that they think this might be real -- that means I did my job." McMillan spoke to CNN about learning to trust her instincts, what she learned from a highly publicized divorce and where her life ends and art begins. An edited transcript of the conversation follows: . CNN: What inspired you to write "Who Asked You?" Terry McMillan: What inspired me to write this book was my ongoing or longstanding concern and curiosity about grandparents, and grandmothers in particular, who raise their grandchildren. I knew it would be a hardship story, and I didn't want it just to be that, based on the grandmother. So I also figured that there was another element that would probably lend itself to the story, one I was familiar with, and that is when you open your mouth to offer unsolicited advice, and people either resent it or don't use it or don't take it. And, when people do this, not just me, but when people offer advice, they don't look at their own behavior. CNN: You have spoken about drawing from real-life observations and experiences for previous novels. How do you balance that public persona that people really relate to, with the fictional stories that some might assume to be the story of your life? McMillan: Well, I'll put it this way, I separate my personal life from what I write about regardless. This book is not necessarily a reflection of my own personal experiences. But there are certain things that are universal: disappointment, love, forgiveness, just a sense of responsibility, danger, etc. You just personalize that, you bring it down to ground level. CNN: One of the stories you drew from personal experience was "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," about an older woman who falls in love with a much younger man while on vacation. Your subsequent divorce from Jonathan, your ex-husband who inspired the book, became a topic of discussion. What was the lesson you took away from that public divorce? McMillan: You have to go through what you go through, regardless of what other people say. And you shouldn't have to apologize for grieving. I was grieving, and I was angry -- two bad combinations. And so I had to go through it. It took awhile for me to realize that, to this day, I still love the Jonathan that I loved, that I was with eight of those 10 years. And I stopped holding myself emotionally hostage, and I stopped holding him responsible for it. I think that's the lesson. But there's no time limit on grief or anger until you start realizing it's like a termite and it's eating you up. That's when you need to pay attention. And I realized also that I had given this man too much power over my life. And not only was he not worth it, but I was worth more. CNN: Part of your appeal is having been such an authentic voice and being honest in sharing your personal life. Do you ever regret sharing some parts because of reactions or reviews like The New York Times that comment on your life as well as your books? McMillan: No. The bottom line is this -- this book had nothing to do with my personal life. It wasn't even a reflection of it. The review was a short review, anyway; it was only two paragraphs. The entire first paragraph, she spent reviewing me. Which I thought was grossly unprofessional as well as just tacky. And plus it was tinged with anger. It was anger in that first paragraph. I mean, I can handle a bad review, especially if there's something I can get out of it. I've been out here too long. A lot of people make their own deductions about what's real and what's not real. Personally I don't really care, but when I go around and I do book tours, I often have cleared things up. And sometimes it shows up in print, and now with social media. There are people that know what I stand for and who I am. CNN: What do you want people to know about you that they may not already know about you? McMillan: That I'm a die-hard romantic. They might know that. You get energized by (love). I don't care what kind of love it is -- it could be a baby, a puppy. Romantic love probably tops all of them. Maybe -- I haven't had a grandchild yet.

Best-selling author Terry McMillan's new book is "Who Asked You?" The book explores the relationship of grandmothers raising grandchildren . McMillan: "I write ... because I'm more interested in looking, as opposed to looking away"

(CNN) -- The late Chris Benoit idolized the Dynamite Kid, who was half of a professional wrestling team famous in the 1980s for spectacular high-flying, acrobatic moves. Chris Benoit strangled his wife and suffocated his son before hanging himself in June. The Dynamite Kid and his partner, Davey Boy Smith, were known as the British Bulldogs. They were quick, agile and muscular, and in 1986 they won the World Wrestling Federation tag team championship. Young Benoit dreamed of wrestling like the Dynamite Kid, whose real name is Tom Billington. At the beginning of his career, Benoit adopted the Dynamite nickname and copied his idol's signature moves. In June, Benoit murdered his wife and young son before hanging himself. Investigators found testosterone, painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs in Chris Benoit's body, Georgia's chief medical examiner said a month later. When asked about Benoit's double murder-suicide, Billington told CNN, "It can make you aggressive, the steroids. But personally I wouldn't, you know, kill no bleeding kid, or wife either." Billington now lives in a public housing apartment outside Manchester, England. He has lost the use of his legs. A pin sticks out from one of his toes. Billington blames his wrestling life for doing this to him -- wrestling and the fact that he ignored doctors who told him to stop the punishment to his body. And from the steroids, he said. Billington told CNN that the steroids came from doctors, from friends, even from steroids meant for horses. He took them all, took a terrible pounding in the ring, and like his partner (who died at age 39 in 2002), began taking extensive amounts of painkillers. Benoit's death has refocused a media spotlight on the organization for which he wrestled, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment, and the man who has ruled wrestling for years, Chairman of the Board Vince McMahon. McMahon, appearing with Linda McMahon, his wife and WWE CEO, told CNN: "Nothing from the WWE, under any set of circumstances had anything to do with Chris Benoit murdering his family. How did we know Chris Benoit would turn into a monster." Read a full transcript of the McMahons interview . Vince McMahon defended the organization, saying its drug-testing policy was not just for show. "Our policy stacks up just as well as anyone else's in sport, although again emphasizing we are entertainment, and no one in entertainment, no one has this kind of wellness policy," McMahon said. Critics say McMahon pushes his stars and non-stars, works them too many nights per year and has encouraged the large physiques prevalent in modern wrestling. They say McMahon only looks at his employees as commodities, pawns in a huge business. His businesses are quite successful. About 16 million people a week tune into WWE TV shows. Two of their cable programs -- "Raw" and "Friday Night Smackdown" -- are weekly ratings giants. Pay-per-view specials generate an average of $100 million per year. When asked about the high number of former wrestlers who had died before they turned 50 years old, Vince McMahon said each person in the WWE bore responsibility for their own lives -- especially outside the arena. "If someone passes through our organization, it is not our responsibility for someone's personal activities," he said. He also said there isn't "any organization in the world, be it entertainment or be it sport, that can tell you that they are totally drug-free." Watch as a WWE wrestler says the perception of steroid use is wrong » . The McMahons said the WWE is taking steps toward improving its oversight of its athletes. Since the newest WWE drug screening program began in February 2006, more than 30 of the organization's wrestlers have been suspended, including two since CNN's interview with the McMahons. David Black -- who helped the NFL develop its drug program and now runs tests for the WWE -- says twice that number have tested positive and been given a warning. But Dr. Gary Wadler, a world-renowned expert in the study of drugs and athletes, says the WWE is not doing enough. "It certainly falls far, far short of where it needs to be," he said. "And there is a gold standard, and I measure all these sporting and entertainment activities against this gold standard. And [the WWE is] miles apart." Wadler, a longtime critic of McMahon, was referring to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in Colorado Springs, Colorado. U.S. athletes training for the Olympics are randomly tested and, if caught just once, face a two-year suspension from competition. If caught a second time, they can be banned for life. Black's programs test wrestlers four times a year. The first is a "baseline" test, according to the WWE. Black then tests for "nonmedical" uses, meaning that if an athlete has a prescription, he is cleared. "It's just a loophole that in my mind guts the entire program," said Travis Tygart, who heads the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. McMahon denies that his wrestlers are pushed to use steroids. He says the average wrestler is lighter than in recent years. Watch one of the new WWE stars talk about being "straight edge" » . "There's an expression in our business, that here is where you make your money. It's your face, it's what you do with it," he said. "It's your personality, it's what you do with it. It's your delivery, your elocution. It's storyline, it's things, all those things that are theatrical as well as athletic in the ring." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Drew Griffin contributed to this report.

Vince McMahon: WWE has one of best drug-testing programs . Wrestling boss tells CNN that individuals bear responsibility for actions . Critics say WWE penalties for drug use are not harsh enough . Wrestlers still can get drugs if they have prescriptions from doctors .